A pensioner has been reunited with the woman she saved from a house fire more than 20 years ago thanks to a north-east social care charity.
Laura Duncan was 24 years when her family home on Talisman Road in Aberdeen caught fire in early one summer morning in 1992.
Although the blaze was rapidly spreading through the Garthdee house, Miss Duncan and her mum, dad and brother were sound asleep, and could have died if not for a passing bakery worker and her boss who pulled over and woke them up.
By the time the family-of-four escaped and firefighters arrived, the mysterious woman and her employer had already driven away, and Miss Duncan never got the chance to thank them.
But now, 24 years later, Miss Duncan has finally found the woman that saved her life in a twist of fate.
Miss Duncan volunteers for charity TLC, which offers a befriending service for isolate and lonely pensioners, and was paired with 82-year-old Irene Anderson.
As the two began chatting, the pair discovered they came from the same area – and when oil worker Miss Duncan told the pensioner where she grew up, she could not believe what she heard next.
Ms Anderson revealed it had been her that had helped raise the alarm that morning.
“I was passing their house with my boss on the way to the bakery at about 4am,” she said.
“I pointed out the car window and said it looks like there’s smoke coming out of that house there.
“I told him to stop, and we jumped out and banged on the door until they answered.
“Once they were all safe we had to get to work, and I never spoke to her again until I met her this year.”
Miss Duncan said that after the fire, her family had tried to track down their heroes but with little luck.
“It wasn’t until two weeks in of befriending Irene that we started talking about where we used to live 20 odd years ago, and I realised she had literally saved my entire family’s life all those years ago, it was very emotional.”
Mrs Anderson added: “Having Laura around has fairly helped me, because I’m housebound – we always have a laugh, and she makes me so happy.
“And now we’re just absolutely best friends, and I love spending time with her.”
To volunteer with the charity visit www.tlc.org.uk