Bear Uber driver helps stranded Philadelphia couple elope for free
When David Scullion II recieved a call from a Philadelphia couple stranded on southbound Interstate 95 in danger of missing a scheduled appointment, he thought nothing out of the ordinary.
As an Uber driver, he's used to people in a panic needing to reach their destination in a hurry. After picking up the pair, about 11:50 a.m. Friday, however, he learned this was no ordinary pickup. The pair was about to miss their wedding at the Cecil County Courthouse in Elkton, Maryland.
Scullion, who has been married for 14 years to his wife Melissa, asked if the couple if they had any witnesses. After answering no, Scullion decided to give the eloping couple an early wedding gift.
“I said ‘if you make me your witness, [I] won’t charge the fare.”
It wasn’t wealth that made Scullion cancel the round-trip Uber ride. The father of three says he is trying to save money for a new car for better Uber pickups and take his family on a vacation before school restarts. Yet, he felt compelled to complete an act of kindness because of what he described as an "overpowering experience" that he simply couldn’t ignore.
“I thought," he said, "I have to turn off that meter."
And so he did. He and the couple, who did not want to be fully named for The News Journal, agreeing only to go under the pseudonym of Gabriel and Eric Smith due to privacy, arrived at the courthouse just in time for their scheduled 12:30 p.m. wedding.
There to witness it all was Scullion, by all accounts a stranger whom the couple had just met minutes earlier. Yet, he said he was honored and overcome with emotion being a witness to the wedding he described as “short, but very sweet.”
“I could see these were two people that were really dedicated to each other,” he said.
Once the couple exchanged their “I Do’s," it was time for the real work: getting their car back up and running. The couple, along with Scullion, tried unsuccessfully to repair a flat tire. The Philadelphia couple had just purchased a new Prius and didn’t know the car had a wheel lock. Worse, the pair didn’t have the key needed to remove the lug nuts to repair the blown tire.
Scullion and the newlyweds made stops at his Bear-area residence and an Auto Zone along Del. 141 (Pulaski Highway) in search of an emergency lug nut remover. Both attempts were unsuccessful.
Jasmine Binik, a commercial assistant manager at Pep Boys Auto Parts & Car Repairs, located at 1164 Pulaski Highway in Bear, was working when Scullion and newlyweds entered the shop hoping the store had the part needed. It would take about 15 minutes, but Binik said the part was eventually located.
“We learned about the wedding and their situation, and we really wanted to help them,” she said of the group effort.
With the stud remover, a device that helps remove stripped lug nuts or lug nuts with a missing key, the trio headed back to the abandoned car on a busy southbound I-95 highway.
Scullion helped the newlyweds replace the flat tire with a spare and jump started the vehicle - in a panic, the couple had left the lights on - and led the way nearby tire shop, J's Tires.
The trio would part ways shortly thereafter, but not before a thank you from the newlyweds.
As for Scullion, he says the random encounter which lasted a little under four hours, “reenergized his spirit.” A recent cancer survivor, the round-trip fare would have likely made him a couple hundred dollars.
Yet, he says he was happy to a part of a love story. He recalled marrying his wife Melissa on Valentine’s Day and knowing on their first date, he wanted to marry her. So he helped the couple who had long considered eloping finally tie the knot after two years.
And he helped jumpstart that journey with what he described a much-needed “soul boost.”
Said Scullion: “I’ve always been a hopeless romantic.”
Contact Alonzo Small at (302) 324-2856 or asmall@delawareonline.com. Follow him on Twitter @P_AlonzoSmall.