AILSA CHANG, HOST:
Time now for "My Unsung Hero," our series from the team at the Hidden Brain podcast. "My Unsung Hero" tells the stories of people whose kindness left a lasting impression on someone else. And today's story comes from Melissa Barbanell. One summer evening in 2010, she and her 7-year-old son, Calvin, left their house to play in the park across the street.
MELISSA BARBANELL: We made it to the crosswalk, and as we were getting ready to cross into the park, I noticed that a truck was coming relatively quickly down the street. I told my son to stop, but he had already entered the crosswalk. And the pickup truck hit him, knocking him off the bike and across the road, where I saw him apparently lifeless. And the truck drove away. From the park across the street, came the woman who is my unsung hero. She ran across the street. She'd been out jogging in the park. She was probably in her 30s, with light brown hair, and she came. And she identified herself as a nurse, and she went to my son. I was frozen on the spot.
She examined him, and she said the words, he's breathing, he has a pulse. And at that moment, she was the person who allowed me to come back into my body and to go on. I don't know what happened to her. I don't remember. I know that she stayed until the fire truck came, and they got my son stabilized. Ultimately, he recovered from his injuries. The driver of the car was identified and eventually prosecuted for hit and run. But the woman that day, who allowed me to go on in the face of not knowing if my child was dead or alive, will be with me forever. The kindness and the care and the willingness to come and help means everything. And if I could see her today, I would just hug her and tell her thank you.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
CHANG: Melissa Barbanell, of Salt Lake City, Utah - Calvin is now 21 years old. You can find more stories of unsung heroes and learn how to submit your own at myunsunghero.org.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
