It was a dark, rainy day when a local woman found herself needing a helping hand and got more than she bargained for—in the best way.
Before 11 a.m. on July 22, Steinbach received 38.6 millimetres of rain, flooding various areas.
Carrie from Lorette happened to be in the area during the storm, and found herself and her vehicle swamped in a Steinbach parking lot.
"I went to go turnaround, and the flooding was so bad that I guess I ended up either driving over a sign, or the sidewalk. I didn't know anything was wrong until I heard scraping from underneath my vehicle," says Carrie
When she got out, she saw a piece of plastic hanging from underneath her car. Unsure what to do, she called a friend, who suggested she try to pull it off—but she couldn't due to an injured knee.
That’s when she spotted a man walking across the street with a coffee in hand.
"I yelled out and said, 'Excuse me, could I ask you a favour?' So he came over and and I explained to him what was going on. He got down and looked, and he tried to take it off. Then he said, 'I think you're going to have to go to a mechanic shop,'" Carrie explains.
The stranger recommended a local repair shop, and called his son who works there.
"He said, 'I'm sending over this lady, her name is Carrie. Can you take care of her? There's something hanging underneath her vehicle.'" Happily, his son agreed—but Carrie told him she likely couldn't afford the visit.
He told her not to worry, because he owns the building the repair shop is in, and assured her that his son would take care of her.
"If he charges you, I will charge him," she recalls him saying, then he gave her directions to the garage.
At the shop, Carrie says the man was there picking up supplies, so she thanked him for his help. He simply reiterated she was in good hands.
After her vehicle was taken care of and she was on her way to pick up her grandchildren, she noticed something unusual sticking out of her wallet.
It was $300.
"It wasn't there before—I was shocked. Like, oh my gosh, who would do this?" Carrie says. "It was so nice. That's why we're called friendly Manitoba."
Written with files from Corny Rempel