Strangers help to save a life in Springvale

By Daniel Tran

WHEN the doorbell rang, Koula Eleftheriadis and her family could not have imagained the scene that would await them.

On the doorstep was their 74-year-old aunt, Aliki Pandis, being supported by two strangers and another behind them who had her shopping cart. She was bleeding from her temple.

Mrs Pandis, who was only two blocks from home, had been walking back from the shops to see her sons Chris and Nick and her niece Irene when she collapsed in front of the bus stop near the Springvale library.

She lost consciousness and fell onto the pavement, cutting open her head. Family members would later learn that Mrs Pandis had suffered a mild stroke.

As she lay on the concrete, three men who were waiting at the bus stop rushed to her aid. The strangers called the ambulance and ran into the library to get help.

However, Mrs Pandis became distressed and wanted to go home, so they took her, two of them holding her up, the other pushing her trolley. Mrs Pandis’ doctors said their help came in the nick of time and possibly saved her life.

Mrs Pandis’ niece and goddaughter, Koula Eleftheriadis, was full of praise for the men whose identities still remain unknown to her family. “They missed their bus to help out my godmother,” she said.

She, Mrs Pandis and her sons Chris and Nick had a message for the men: “Thank you so much for helping her out in a time of need.”

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