Young mum praises special 'angel' who came the rescue of her twin baby girls on A14

Nicola Smith, 26, and her family were travelling through Cambridgeshire along the A14 near Spittals when their car broke down, with smoke coming from under the bonnet.

Fearing the car was about to burst into flames, Nicola, her fiancé, and her seven-year-old son Matthew all got out the car with six-month-old twins Emily and Olivia.

However, Nicola was terrified that the twins, who were born seven-weeks premature, would not be able to cope with the cold.

By luck, Special Sergeant Paul Jenkins was driving by on the other side of the carriageway, sensed something was wrong and went back to find out.

He took the distressed mum and her children to the safety and warmth of Cambridge services while Nicola’s fiancé waited with the car for breakdown services to arrive.

Nicola said: “When we broke down I felt sick. I thought we can either stay in the car and risk it blowing up or get out and huddle in the freezing cold by the emergency lay-by phone.

“While my fiancé called breakdown I looked after the children as best I could but my twins have immature lungs and serious breathing difficulties, so being in the cold by the side of the A14 was just terrible.

“Paul had seen us struggling to keep our children safe by the side of the hugely busy road and went out of his way to turn around and come to our rescue. I could have cried and I didn’t think it was real.

“It takes a special kind of person to see that someone might be in trouble and to going out of your way to help. I honestly couldn’t believe someone would be so kind and I genuinely believe his actions may well have saved my babies’ lives that day, as their lungs simply cannot handle exposure to such extreme temperatures.

“He helped calm my obviously anxious son, who has Asperger’s Syndrome and found the whole experience very distressing, and made sure we were all safely settled in the services before he left us. He is an angel and a true credit to the police force. I can never repay him or thank him enough for his kindness.”

Paul, who works for Highways England and is part of the safer roads group, said: “I drove past on the other side of the road and saw the car and sensed that something was wrong. I’m very glad that I stopped and I’m touched by Nicola’s response.”