Adelaide grandma Judy Nimmo says Paul McCartney saved her from being crushed during 1964 Adelaide visit

In 1964, one Adelaide teenager says she was nearly crushed to death when she was pushed into The Beatles’ car – but Paul McCartney saved her. Now she just wants to thank him.

The Beatles – George Harrison, Paul McCartney John Lennon and stand-in drummer Jimmie Nicol – arrive in Adelaide. Picture: Supplied

When 16-year-old apprentice hairdresser Judith Goodchild returned from her lunchbreak on Friday, June 12, in 1964, and was asked to wash a regular client’s hair, she was uncharacteristically blunt – for a very good reason.

“I told him ‘No way, Paul McCartney just held my hand’ and (my boss) just smiled and said ‘Okay’,” recalls the-then teenager, now 76-year-old grandmother Judy Nimmo.

The teen had been in the front of a huge crowd, opposite Beehive Corner in King William St waiting to see The Beatles’ motorcade.

Judy, aged 16, in 1964. Picture: Supplied

Beatles fan Judy Nimmo with her granddaughter Florence today. Picture: Supplied

“All of a sudden the crowd behind surged forward and I thought I would be trapped,” Ms Nimmo told The Advertiser in 2014, on the 50th anniversary of when The Beatles came to town.

She also recalled seeing – out of the corner of her eye – a police motorcycle alongside The Beatles’ Ford Galaxie convertible and being almost certain it was about to hit her.

Then suddenly as the Fab Four passed, a child’s pusher hit Judy behind her knees and propelled her into the front seat of their convertible – and Paul McCartney’s lap.

“I don’t know who was more surprised, Paul or me, but he quickly took control,” Ms Nimmo told The Advertiser, adding: “He grabbed my hand to steady me while he yelled to the car’s driver to stop the car. He was also madly waving to the policeman to stop his bike about to run over me.”

This is the Ford Galaxie convertible, which is believed to have been used to drive The Beatles around Adelaide. Picture: Advertiser Library

Macca then helped the teen out of the convertible: “He looked me in the eyes and said ‘Are you all right?’. I can remember even today his lovely grey eyes – it was all very dreamlike.”

Today, almost 60 years later, Ms Nimmo is still reminiscing about the encounter. She refers to it as ‘The day Paul McCartney held my hand’ and would love to thank the now Sir Paul McCartney in person.

The front page of The Advertiser on Saturday, June 13, 1964, which shows fans packed into King William St to see The Beatles. Picture: Advertiser Library

Radio presenter Bob Francis with Paul McCartney and Jimmie Nicole on the balcony of Adelaide Town hall on Friday, June 12, 1964. Picture: Advertiser Library

“It’s not about me,” she says. “He’s rich and famous and successful … (but) he made a split-second decision and I saw who he was in that moment … and he saw me as well.”

Asked if she believed McCartney had saved her from being crushed, Ms Nimmo doesn’t hesitate: “He knew it and so did I.”

Massive crowds came out to see The Beatles in Adelaide. Picture: Supplied

Ms Nimmo is hoping Macca’s people will hear about her experience and arrange a meet and greet so she can express her heartfelt gratitude.

“I’ve been a fan since Love Me Do. I would say to myself ‘This is the band of the century’ and they were,” she said.

And while the superfan missed out on tickets to the Macca’s Adelaide Entertainment Centre show, she was in the audience when The Beatles played Centennial Hall in 1964: “I was near the back standing on a kitchen chair and (as soon as The Beatles came on) all the girls started screaming and you couldn’t hear a thing!”