Sharleen and Ron Gillies were just hours away from saying their final goodbyes to his dying mother when their car broke down – and they may not have made it in time if it had not been for a compassionate stranger.

The Scottish couple had been driving south from Edinburgh to see Ron's mother in Cambridge when they got in a minor car collision which left their vehicle stranded on the side of the road with a damaged wheel.

Though the incident left them unharmed, they became increasingly distraught when they called their insurance company and were "robotically" told that no one would be able to rescue them for another three hours – and even then, they would only be able to get a ride to the train station.

Thankfully, 40-year-old Dean Moore had been driving to his own home in North Ormesby when he saw the Gillies on the side of the ride.

Unable to drive past the anxious older couple, Moore pulled over to make sure that they were okay.

Moore then became so frustrated by the couple's plight, he volunteered to drive them the remaining 200 miles to Cambridge.

True to his word, Moore drove for three and a half hours until he was able to deliver the Gillies at the bedside of Ron's dying mother at midnight. After taking a quick bathroom break, Moore then turned around and made the three and a half hour drive back home.

As fate would have it, Ron and Sharleen arrived just in time to spend a few hours with his mother before she died the following day.

"I just can't put into words what that lad did for us," Ron told Gazette Live. "This happened on the Sunday and she died the next day, she died on Monday. If it hadn't been for Dean, there's a fair chance we would have not got there in time."

Even though Moore says he was "knackered" at work the next day following his 7-hour drive, he has remained humble about his actions.

"They were stuck in a bad situation, I just made it a little better," Moore told the Gazette. "I don't deserve such a fuss being made, I just want to drift off into the background. But I obviously left a good impression of the area and I'm glad about that."

Be Sure And Share This Sweet Story With Your Friends On Social Media – Photo by Ron Gillies