AN elderly woman has thanked good Samaritans who came to her rescue after she suffered a stroke in the street.

Maria Coote, 81, said she was grateful for the help she was given after being taken ill at a bus stop in freezing conditions.

Her daughter, Angela Burgoyne, said she doesn’t want to think about what could have happened had people not stepped in to help as they did.

Mrs Coote had a mini-stroke, at the bus stop outside the Spar store on the Howbridge estate, Witham. A postwoman who works on the estate went to fetch Mrs Coote’s husband, 85-year-old Fred, from their home round the corner, in Pitt Avenue.

Meanwhile, a bus driver named Karen, who was driving the Stevenson’s route 90 service from Maldon to Morrisons in Witham, stopped the crowded bus, helped Mrs Coote into the grocery store and waited with her and a neighbour named Janet, until paramedics arrived.

Mrs Coote said: “I started to feel my leg wobble and my speech became slurred.

“I told the bus driver I just wanted to go home, but she recognised what had happened because it had also happened to someone else she knew, she said I needed an ambulance.

“I couldn’t have been looked after by them better and I’m just so grateful to everyone who gave their time to help me.”

Her daughter, Mrs Burgoyne, 58, of King George Road, Colchester, said: “Both the postwoman and the bus driver were fantastic. I can’t thank them enough for their help.

“I dread to think what would have happened if they hadn’t have been there to help.

“It was a cold, snowy day and with a stroke it is so important that the right treatment is given. Every second counts.”

Mrs Coote was taken to Broomfield Hospital,Chelmsford, where she made a good recovery and is now back home.