Stories of Kindness from Around the World

Three Strangers Come Together to Help


--by bluebuddha, posted Aug 24, 2010

It was a busy and stressful day at work. I decided that I had done what I could do and it was time to face the hour-long commute to the East Bay. It was stop-and-go as usual when I finally braved through the Bay Bridge traffic and reached the Powell Street exit ten minutes from my home in Berkeley. 

About to exit the freeway, I noticed a large black pick-up truck parked a bit abruptly to the right shoulder. A small Hispanic woman got out of the driver seat and opened the back door. I could barely see her through the tinted windows but something didn’t seem right. Just as I pulled over behind her and got out of the car, she came running towards me -- screaming. As the tiredness of the day slipped away rather quickly, I tried to remain calm and inquire what the situation was and walked back with her to the truck. Peering into the back seat I noticed that there was a little boy in a car seat having what looked like, a seizure.

The mom was completely flustered and besides herself. She was trying to frantically call 911 but wasn’t getting through. I tried to call and got the same results. A couple of minutes later, a young man came up to see if he could help. He told us that if you call 911 from your cell phone it gets re-routed to a central office and then gets transferred to your local police, so it takes a while. It didn’t seem like we had a lot of time to wait around. I remembered that the Oakland Children’s Hospital is only a few minutes away, suggesting that we drive him there instead of waiting. She assured me that she was okay enough to drive and followed my car. As two of us trailed off, the man decided to follow her truck as well. Weaving in and out of traffic, I considered the situation: three strangers, driving at break neck speed to make sure a child was okay.

On the way there, I called the hospital and told them that we were bringing a boy who was having a seizure to the emergency room so that they’re prepared. Luckily, they were ready for him as the mom pulled up in front of me and carried him in.  As I sat in silence in the waiting room, it was difficult to process what had just happened in the last fifteen minutes. While I jumped to action, I couldn’t imagine what had been going through the mother’s heart, completely helpless at seeing her little son go through this.

The young man that helped was about to leave, and came over to thank me for stopping. As I was thanking him, he lifted up his shirt to show me the badge in his pocket. He was a cop! In all the craziness, we hadn’t figured that out. “I have to stop if I see anyone needing help, even when I’m not on duty but it’s good to see that you stopped to help,” he explained. How could I not have stopped? I thought. Thinking back to the day at work, I realized no matter how much I have going on in my life, there’s always room to be kind. The ironic thing was that I no longer felt tired, so the incident helped me put my priorities in place.

Looking back, I don’t remember what was happening at work that was causing the stress. But what I do remember is that an opportunity to be of service came my way, and this time I didn’t let it pass me by. I took that chance to build a connection, help someone in need, and strengthen someone’s faith that people do care about each another. And it’s not such a bad world after all. 

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Readers Comments

heartofflesh wrote: Definetly not ! It is not a bad world at all as long as you ignore the headlines in the newspaper.
Thanks for listening to your heart.
I am happy to learn from you.
unknown wrote: Wow, your post is a powerful one ... three strangers, driving at break neck speed to make sure a child was okay ... Although it seems true at first, its simply because we all are interconnected and it seems like you are well aware of it. Thank you so much for being you :):)
trueblue wrote: Isn't life funny!...if you didn't have such a stressful day that day... you may have left to early or to late and missed out on helping the lady who was in need...this sounds like it was a stressful day for a reason...bless your cotton socks... :-)
MakeSomeoneSmile wrote: That is great! Thank you for taking the time to care. So many do not that it is refreshing to read when someone does. It makes ALL the difference! :)
cabbage wrote: Thank you so much for helping that mom--
you were an angel. I'm so glad you were there. Thank you for sharing.
Big hugs to you! :-)
JPAS wrote: You made a difference in somebody's world! Thank you for people like you. Our own misery is nothing compared to others. Embrace the good and bad of life!
melesai wrote: Bravo.
sethi wrote: There are quite few good people in this world. Thank you for your kindness.
Sydney wrote: How wonderful that you were present enough to notice the woman, remain calm and remember the nearby hospital. She's very lucky to have received all this kindness from you.
1golddragonfly wrote: Your story shows the compassion you have for others! It’s also a great reminder when we feel surrounded by the stress in our lives, and we all have it at one time or another - what is really important. Thank you for being there and acting with a clear head in a time of need.

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