By Eleanor Cade Bus
At 10 p.m., Monday, Nov. 30, the coldest night in the Midcoast so far this season, Jennifer Chesebro was at the Coastal Car Wash scrubbing frozen egg from a car for an hour and a half.
The Bristol mom saw a friend in distress and took immediate action.
Maddy Hartford, 18, had left her home in Damariscotta to go to LincolnHealth’s Miles Campus for an eight-hour infusion to treat aggressive Bechet’s syndrome. The treatment, similar to chemotherapy, puts her in bed for at least two days and she had to get to the hospital.
When she went out to get into her car, it was covered in frozen eggs and eggshells. She had no time or energy to clean it off and needed to be at the hospital on time. She drove there, upset the whole way.
Once settled in at Miles, and hooked up to her IV for the next eight hours, she was able to post about what had happened on Facebook, hoping that someone could help before the eggs destroyed the paint on her car.
“It was extremely destructive. The whole roof was covered with frozen-on eggs,” said Hartford. “I just didn’t have time to do anything or really know what to do. I went for my treatment and posted about what I found, just hoping that someone could help.”
Jennifer Chesebro saw what Hartford had posted and took action. She got her three children settled down for the night in Bristol and went to get the car.
What she found was distressing. “It was plastered with egg,” she said. “I’ve never seen anything like it. This was no amateur egging either. They knew the destruction they caused and they made it severe. Not only was the entire hood and both front doors coated with egg but they also concentrated a ridiculous amount of egg on the roof of the car.”
Her childhood friend, Justin Waltz, runs the car wash, so Chesebro called to make sure the water was still hot at night. He assured her that it was and gave her some tips on how to clean the mess.
After $33 in fees and a lot of scrubbing and elbow grease, the car was clean and returned to the hospital. Hartford was delighted but she still needed to decide what action to take.
After a discussion with her parents, the choice was made not to file a police report.
“She is just too ill to deal with this,” said her mother, Heather Hilton Hartford. “Our hope is that whoever did this thinks long and hard about what they did to someone as sick as she is. We had to get it cleaned up anyway and any evidence would be gone, so maybe they will consider themselves lucky and smarten up.”
“I was glad to help,” said Jennifer Chesebro. “And this morning I heard from Coastal Car Wash. They gave me a free wash for my car to say thank you for helping out last night. We have a great community.”
Maddy Hartford agrees. “I’m sorry for the person who did this. We watch out for each other around here,” she said. “I’m so proud of this community. I have received nothing but support for the past five years. I am so blessed.”