Leader: '˜The gesture restores faith in humanity'

Mairi Holden had rushed her child to the Sick Kids after a severe asthma attack. Finding a legal parking space in the warren of streets around the hospital was, understandably, the last thing on her mind.

When she emerged from the hospital having stayed by the side of her four-year-old overnight, she, predictably, found two parking tickets on her windscreen.

But there was something else – a note left by a passer-by simply saying “Pay it then forget it happened” along with a gift of £25 towards the fine.

The gesture left her speechless and the story has, unsurprisingly, spread like wildfire after it was shared on social media.

We don’t know yet who the Good Samaritan was but we can assume they deduced the circumstances of the fine, as it is an all-too-common occurrence on the streets around the Sick Kids.

Parking there has been an issue for decades and removing the stress of finding a space will be one of the major benefits of the new build hospital beside the ERI.

The city’s parking enforcers show no mercy, as we know, and ruthlessly stick to the letter of the law.

Countless parents will have had similar surprises returning to their cars after a stressful time in the hospital and will not have been saved by a random act of kindness.

Let’s hope that in this case at least, the city council now does the right thing and cancels Mairi’s tickets.

For her part, she has turned the experience into an even bigger positive by starting a JustGiving campaign to raise money for the Sick Kids on the back of the heartwarming story.

The money is already flooding in, showing the impact which one kind act, powered by social media, can have. Well done to them all. Faith restored.