A grieving son was hit with a £100 fine after he drove 140 mikes in the middle of the night to visit his dying father.
David Risdale, from Nottingham, received a 3am call from his mum to tell him his 91-year-old father had fallen and suffered cardiac arrest on November 27, last year.
Without thinking, David set off on the three hours journey in the middle of the night, despite the treacherous conditions to try and see his dad one more time and be there when he passed, TeesideLive reports.
The drive from Nottingham to North Tees Hospital took him more than three hours due to the bad conditions, TeesideLive reports.
He said: "Obviously I set off immediately.
"The journey from my home in Nottingham usually takes about 2.5 hours, this was however the night of a storm and conditions were terrible with snow and heavy rain, and the drive took me over 3.5 hours.
"I heard from my mother during the drive that my father had sadly died."
David finally made it to the hospital around 7am.
He forgot to buy a ticket when he parked, and rushed inside to see his mother and be with his father.
He said: "When I arrived at North Tees Hospital, it was still dark and the weather was still horrendous, it was tanking down.
"Not being from the area, I was not familiar with the hospital or the parking.
"I had so many things on my mind, I was anxious about my elderly mother and very upset, I just parked in a car park and ran into the hospital building."
Inside, he sat with his father for a short time, then took his mother home.
But then, several days later he received a letter from Smart Parking Ltf, the owners of the hospital car park, stating that he owed a £100 fine because he had parked his car for 13 minutes without payment.
He addd: “The car park was deserted, and to be honest it never crossed my mind to think about paying,"
He wrote to Smart Parking asking if the fine could be waived on compassionate grounds - even attaching a copy of his father's death certificate in the appeal.
He said: "I was not contesting that I didn't pay. I should have paid and failed to do so, but it was entirely unintentional, my mind was on other things.
"I was just asking for someone to give me a break and show some compassion, the circumstances were exceptional."
But Mr Ridsdale received a reply from Smart Parking stating that they cannot waive the fine on the grounds suggested by him.
"I just feel really disappointed, fed up and helpless", said Mr Ridsdale.
"My faith in human nature has taken a bit of a knock, I just hope that the individual who made this judgement on behalf of Smart Parking never has to experience the upset and stress that my family and I did on that day."
Since the incident, Mr Ridsdale has reluctantly paid the parking fine.
A spokesperson for North Tees Hospital said: "North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust would like to offer our condolences to the family during this difficult time.
"The car park in question is not part of our car parking provision. It is owned and operated by a privately owned company and as such, we have no influence over any of its activities, charges or penalty notices."
Smart Parking Ltd have been approached for comment.
