ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:
Time now for "My Unsung Hero," our series from the team at Hidden Brain. "My Unsung Hero" tells the stories of people whose kindness left a lasting impression on someone else. Today's story comes from Apryle Oswald. In 1997, she was on a road trip with her boyfriend and two dogs. As they were driving through a town called Lovelock, Nev., one of the dogs suddenly tried to jump in the front seat. Oswald swerved, losing control of the car.
APRYLE OSWALD: And the car went, like, back over front for about 100 yards. I undid my seat belt, got out of the car, started yelling for him and then completely collapsed. Now, it was freezing temperatures, probably something in the 20s. And the two dogs also were alive, but one was injured very badly. Well, my boyfriend at the time got up to the road and was trying to flag people down. And this was the middle of the night, so nobody was stopping. And so he took off his jacket in the middle of a cold Nevada night, and he threw it at a guy that eventually stopped. I ended up having to be life-flighted to the near hospital, so thank goodness this guy stopped.
Then, for the next three nights, he drove our dog back and forth from the veterinary clinic where he was getting blood transfusions to the hotel where my boyfriend was staying. And he also drove my boyfriend back and forth to the hospital where I was to see me and to the hotel where he was staying.
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OSWALD: I mean, I honestly don't know if I would have survived if this guy had not stopped and helped me.
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OSWALD: I don't know his name. I don't know who he is. I, because I was in pretty bad shape, don't know what he looked like. But not only did he stop, he also continued to help over the next few days.
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OSWALD: I don't even know that we ever got a proper chance to thank him. I know that I didn't. But what an amazing thing for a stranger to do.
SHAPIRO: Apryle Oswald lives in Bermuda, and you can find more stories like this on the "My Unsung Hero" podcast.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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