The Olympics haven't even started and already Patrick Singleton is a hero to an American couple.

Donna Allard and Randy Buzzell were visiting on the cruise ship Meridian last July when they had an unforgettable encounter with Bermuda's only Winter Olympian.

And after learning only this week that Singleton had qualified in the luge for next month's Nagano Games, Ms Allard contacted The Royal Gazette to tell of an incident involving a beach, bus, broken leg and a certain "prince'' who came to the rescue.

"I haven't stopped thinking about this kid,'' said Ms Allard, a music teacher from Leominster, Massachussets. "I've told so many people about him.'' Now Ms Allard has begun a fundraising drive in her home town entitled "Pennies for Patrick'' to help Mr. Singleton raise the finances he needs for his Olympics quest.

The saga begins with Mr. Buzzell, who, climbing rocks at the end of Horseshoe Bay, falls 15 feet into a small cove and suffers an apparent broken leg.

Ms Allard loses it.

She further panics during what she says was a 45-minute wait for an ambulance.

It is during this time Mr. Singleton, working as a Park Ranger during the summer, hears of the incident on his scanner and speeds to the rescue.

"All of a sudden this guy walks over and I felt a total calm come over me,'' gushed Ms Allard. "He talked to me, he told us what to; Patrick basically guided us through the whole thing.'' The ambulance arrives, whisks Mr. Buzzell to hospital and they all go on their way.

But the story does not end here.

Later, Ms Allard visits Mr. Buzzell -- by this time receiving treatment for a compound spiral fracture in his leg -- and rushes out to Point Finger Road to catch the 8.15 p.m. bus to Dockyard.

The bus blows by without stopping.

Ms Allard loses it.

She begins walking when a motor scooter pulls up and the driver hollers: "Hey Donna, how's your husband?'' It was, of course, the kid who will attempt to defy the odds in two weeks at the Winter Olympics.

Mr. Singleton offers to drive her to Dockyard. She hesitates. Mr. Singleton insists. She hesitates. Mr. Singleton yanks an extra windbreaker and helmet from under the seat. Ms Allard hops on the back.

"I couldn't argue with him,'' she recalled.

Concerned over the well-being of his passenger, Singleton stops at the family's home in Southampton to transfer to a car. Talking to him and meeting father Derek, she learns of his Olympic ambitions.

"He was so kind,'' Ms Allard said this week. "I think the world of Patrick.'' She is dropped off at the Meridian and they all go on their way.

But our story does not end here.

Ms Allard writes Singleton a thank you letter and encloses money to help in his Olympic dream. Singleton sends a post card, updating her on his quest. On Wednesday, Mr. Buzzell, still walking with a limp, visits his doctor for the last time for his leg. That night, Ms Allard contacts Mr. Singleton's mother, Sallie, and learns he is in Japan.

"I can't wait to tell the kids at school,'' Ms Allard said.

"I'll tell you, I'll be watching that TV and praying for him to do well.'' Mr. Singleton, a winner of the Bermuda Bravery Award in 1989 after rescuing a man at Horseshoe Bay, brushed off the praise, calling his actions "a Bermudian thing to do.

"Any time a tourist gets hurt in a foreign country, it's a horrible thing,'' he said from Japan yesterday. "It was only their second day here, they spent all that money to come here and their vacation was ruined. I just felt terrible for them.'' IT'S SNOW JOKE -- Patrick Singleton, Bermuda's sole representative in the Winter Olympics, poses with a friendly rival -- and India's only participant in the Games -- at a recent luge event.

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