UNSUNG HEROES
BIRTHDAY BOY THANKS STOKE CABBIE WHO TURNED DETECTIVE TO REUNITE HIM WITH MONEY AND GIFTS LEFT IN TAXI
Party-goer Phil Moorcroft has been reunited with his missing cham- pagne, £100 cash and cards from his 40th birthday - thanks to a kind- hearted cabbie. The Stoke Sentinel reports that the 40- year-old feared he would never see them again after his sister, Toni Baggu- ley, left them in a taxi - and they did not know which firm had taken her home from his birthday bash in December.
And taxi driver Malik - who discov- ered the cards and gifts - had no record of the job and could only remember dropping her off
somewhere in Kids- grove.
But Malik turned detective and car- ried out door-to- door inquiries be- fore knocking on the right door. Now the two men are great friends after meeting up. Self-employed cab- bie Malik, 42, from Longton, said: “Phil’s brother-in- law, sister and mum caught the taxi from Hanley. I dropped them off at Kids- grove - and later realised they’d put stuff in the boot which they had for- gotten. “After a few jobs I heard noise coming from the boot be- cause there was a bottle of cham-
Phil’s sister’s house but she wasn’t at home so I left my number. Finally Phil called me and arranged to collect his stuff. “I invited him to my home and I was real- ly happy to do so. I always try my best to do a good job for others.
Birthday boy Phil Moorcroft with taxi driv- er Malik Waheed
pagne so I checked and I saw a gift bag with cards in it.” Malik checked with his bosses and no- one had reported the missing items. After four weeks he opened the cards in an attempt to re- unite them with
their rightful owner. He added: “I wanted to see if there were any details in the cards. I went to a few customers who I remembered from that night but they didn’t belong to them. “Then I ended up at
“I will always try to find people who have left their phones or wallet to give them back. One day I went all the way to Stone to drop off a wallet which a customer had dropped and it had £250 in it.” Malik says his up- bringing and Islamic faith was the reason why he tirelessly tracked down Phil.
He added: “Islam teaches us to be kind and never give up and that’s why I helped Phil. If you do something good for someone else then one day it can come back to you.” Phil, from Kidsgrove, wants to publicly thank Malik.
He said: “Malik is a really nice guy and I will be forever grateful to him. “It’s unbelievable that someone would go out of their way to do something like this. It restores your faith in humanity. “There are some really good people out there and he told me he wouldn’t have stopped until he found me.”
COUNTY DURHAM PREGNANT MUM WITH LEUKAEMIA GIVEN FREE TAXIS TO HOSPITAL BY KIND FIRM
A heartbroken mum who was told she had leukaemia 29 weeks into her preg- nancy has been offered free taxi rides to get her fam- ily to hospital as she undergoes chemo- therapy. Big hearted bosses at cab firm LA Taxis were saddened to read about Emma Baker’s plight as she carries her unborn child. ChronicleLive told how medics broke the devastating news that she had leukaemia after
blood tests flagged up a concern. And now the brave 30-year-old is hav- ing to deliver her baby early so she can start her treat- ment. Newcastle based LA Taxis are offering two taxi journeys a week from Emma’s County Durham home to the hospital and back. LA Taxis founder Rob Armstrong said: “After reading the article on Chronicle- Live I wanted to do something for the mother. Our man-
FEBRUARY 2020
the difficulties sur- rounding premature babies after his daughter was born early.
LA Taxis’ director Rob Armstrong
agement team de- cided to offer Emma free travel to and from the hospital and then also free
travel to the RVI once the baby is born.” Rob has had first hand experience of
His firm had raised thousands of pounds for Tiny Lives and after five years of fundraising and helping the charity, Rob suddenly found himself in the situa- tion of needing its support.
So when he read Emma’s story, his heartstrings were tugged. Rob added: “Given LA Taxis’ long-run- ning connection
with the Tiny Lives Trust, we were abso- lutely delighted to be offering the ser- vices for Emma and her family.”
It is planned that Emma will be induced, meaning her baby arrives early at 31 weeks into her pregnancy so she can start chemotherapy. The infant will be kept in Newcastle’s Royal Victoria Spe- cial Care Baby Unit while Emma stays in the Freeman Hospi- tal as she receives treatment.
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