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news
Jamie McDonald and Gemma Lloyd (picture Jamie McDonald on Facebook).jpgCharity cyclists free woman trapped in van for 4 hours
A cyclist taking part in a John O’Groats to Land’s End charity ride has described how he and fellow riders thought they had stumbled into a kidnap situation when they rescued a woman trapped in the back of a van after hearing her cries for help.
Jamie McDonald, who was participating in the end-to-end ride with a group from Unite Students to raise money for Sport Relief, posted to Facebook to try and discover the identity of the woman to find out if she managed to get home okay.
She turned out to be Gemma Lloyd from Worcester, who had been trapped in the van for more than four hours after the wind blew the doors shut when she went to get a pen from the back.
With no way of getting to her mobile phone which was in the front of the van and no internal handles to open the rear doors, she told the BBC that she had been “really overwhelmed” when the cyclists arrived to free her.
Writing on Facebook about the incident, which happened in Devon on Tuesday, Mr McDonald said: “A small group of us broke away when we heard cries for help from the back of a van in a quiet wooded area just off a stretch of road near the border of Cornwall.
“As you can probably imagine, as we got closer and realised it was definitely a woman banging on the doors of the back of a van and screaming for help, we were scared ourselves. My imagination leapt to somebody being close by. A few of us thought we might be dealing with a kidnapping – it really was frightening.
“Opening the van doors, we found the girl in the photo, who told us she’d been stuck in the back of the van in darkness for more than four hours, shouting and banging that time.
“She’d been crying and said she’d begun to consider the possibility of never getting out,” a prospect that he said must have been “absolutely terrifying.”
He added: “There’s no telling, as this was pretty much the middle of nowhere, how long she might have otherwise been locked in the van. I’m just glad we were passing by.”
The cyclist and his companions posed for a photo or two but didn’t swap contact details before setting off to finish the day’s riding – they finally arrived at Land’s End yesterday – hence the social media appeal to try and identify the woman they had helped so they could ensure she was okay.
Aged 32, Mr McDonald, who lives in Gloucester, spent the first nine years of his life in hospital due to a spinal condition and having determined to give something back, co-founded and helps run the Superhero Foundation charity.
His fundraising initiatives have included riding from Bangkok to Gloucester on a second-hand bike that cost just £50 and setting a Guinness World Record for a marathon 12-day static bike ride.
He also became the first person to run coast-to-coast unsupported across Canada – a distance of 5,000 miles and an achievement that raised £250,000 for charity.
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
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20 comments
I should use emoticons more - that did come across angry, didn't it? Apologies - was meant more of a
is probably the best one.
Not really lying - just being a bit creative. But it could be true. Yay.
My point is that I and others judged the situation as a bit iffy, PR or whatever. But so what? No major criticism of the people in the story and some funny comments.
The judgement of that by you and others seemed a bit po-faced. Ad-hominem. Hints, I think, at our initial judgement being misogynistic or snobbish
"I'm not a <...>, why some of my best friends are <...> "
"Or maybe we can't bring ourselves to believe a story from ... a woman (especially if she's a "promo model")"
In short, I refer you to arkell vs pressdram. With another
http://www.ngkntk.co.uk/index.php/2016/03/10/cyclists-come-to-the-rescue/
From her employer - looks like it's probably legit. It really did sound super fishy though!!
Publicity for them too, win, win, win.
"actually, you judgemental twats"
...and apparently I need to lighten up?
(it's okay, I don't think Ill lose any sleep, but I appreciate your concern)
"...not belittling her or her work..."
Well no, except you did kind of "light heartedly" suggest you thought she might be a liar. And that all the other people in the article were lying. And equate promotion with lying. But I'm sure that's fine.
So, for the cynics who just can't bring themselves believe a feel-good story could actually be true, here's the facebook thread, with discussion and contributions from the woman in question, as well as her mum and friends and aunt. Fake profiles do you think? Or she's lying to her family? Or maybe they're all just in on it, waiting for their backhanders? Either way it's a thorough job.
https://www.facebook.com/jamiemcdonald.org/photos/a.524185104270303.1141...
When someone queries the van door, she posts an image of the following page, containing more details about someone else getting locked inside a VW Caddy Maxi panel van and a response. All faked too I guess?
http://www.roadtestreports.co.uk/qanda/92112/
Loving the sarcastic lmgtfy links from people who haven't bothered to read the details themselves. Or maybe we can't bring ourselves to believe a story from someone who spends all their time raising money for charity, and a woman (especially if she's a "promo model").
...could be that. Did you FEEEEL the sarcasm though?!
Or it could just be that some people light-heartedly kick shit around on t'interweb and don't treat every story as life-or-death, and are a bit skeptical but cool with it all being true, and would still salute a jogle attempt and have a laugh at whether it has a bit of overcooked PR tied to it, or not.
It's believable, so what. Even if it is a load of overcooked PR, noone above is denigrating her work or the jogle. It's the other camp that are jumping to the conclusion about what I and others meant by 'promo model'*.
But still, I'm loving the political correctness from people who need to lighten the fuck up.
* Someone, by definition, interested in 'promotion', is what I meant, not belittling her or her work, actually, you judgemental twats. And I'm the cynic...
A bit of creative PR maybe. Quite inventive of them !
Is shit journalism OK if the "story" is a feelgood one with a tenuous link to charity ?
Sorry, KiwiMike, despite your white-knighting, I'm another one who finds a story involving a handle-less van and a lone professional model trapped therein a little fishy. At least it's a different sort of click-bait article than usual here and I've enjoyed reviewing Miss Lloyd's body of work.
What caught my attention was that pretty face and smile and the shiny gold watch on her wrist! Next question was what she was doing in a van all by herself in the middle of no where!
It might have been more plausible to go with the kidnapping story but I guess the guys in the photo was too sensible in taking the prank a bit too far!
The most unbelievable thing is that one of them didn't try to get her number
That's the first time I hear of a van where the doors can't be opened from the inside. They all get handles on the inside precisely to avoid a situation like this.... Call me a cynic for finding this suspicious too
Cynics. Before you accuse the guy of faking it look at the blog of his coast to coast Canada efforts. Running a marathon a day through the Canadian winter deserves some respect.
Wonder what effect the news story will have on their fundraising!
A bit of googling makes me suspicious too...
That's also an interesting way to wear a helmet.
Sources please.
http://lmgtfy.com/?q=Gemma+Lloyd
Maybe a promo model really was just rummaging in the back of a van with no internal door latches or access to the front seats when a gust of wind blew the doors securely shut. And maybe the first people to discover her were indeed jogle cyclists.
Big respect to all joglers, but I don't feel like a joyless, heartless cynic for getting a minor dose of the chinny reckons over this particular event.
I'm not a <...>, why some of my best friends are <...>
Gormless gits. Nice touch with the dripping mascara.
Fishier than a trawler load of fish...
More to this story than meets the eye....