From Hidden Brain Media, I'm Shankar Vedantam. This is my unsung hero.

Greetings Hidden Brain. My name is...

Hi Shanker. I would like to talk about my

hero. My unsung hero is the man in the Panama hat on the flight to Boston. As the plane

near touchdown, my daughter... I'd like to really communicate to him how he

has the biggest heart of anyone I know.

Today's story comes from Ali Ward.

In 2013, Ali's life felt like it was collapsing.

In quick succession, her relationship with her partner fell apart, her new job wasn't working out, and her dad

was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer.

Meanwhile, my dad's brother had the same kind of cancer and died.

And there was a lot going on.

I remember days when I would think I only cried four times today. That was a good day for me. It was just really tough. It was

a lot of things that I just couldn't help. When she needed a distraction, Ali

liked to go on Facebook and post pictures of her unconventional

obsession.

Bugs, worms, spiders, brightly colored beetles. Her close friends found enduring but in Los Angeles where she lived

not everyone got it. There's you know a little bit of artifice in LA and you

don't find a lot of people they get excited about a spider web.

One day she got a Facebook message from a friend of a friend

a woman she had never met named Lila Higgins.

Lila was an entomologist at the local natural history museum.

...