From Hidden Brain Media, I'm Shankar Vedantam.

This is My Unsung Hero, stories where one person reached out to help another in a time of need.

My Unsung Hero story is from a doctor I heard over 30 years ago.

He's an unsung hero because he rarely got any recognition for his huge heart and his unselfish

actions.

You mean the world to me and I can't thank you enough.

Today's story comes from Betsy Cornwell.

In 1971, when she was 18 years old, Betsy started working the

night shift at a computer assembly plant in Marlborough, Massachusetts. And one night after work, I went

out to the parking lot. I was just going to go home. I went to start the car. And the key broke

off in the ignition. And if you've ever worked

that three to midnight shift, you know how fast a parking lot can empty out. So there I was,

the middle of the night, all by myself, half of the key was in my hand and the other half was in the ignition.

I had no way to start my car and go home.

Well, I wasn't quite alone because this man walked up to the car and tapped on the window

and he said, I noticed you haven't gone anywhere. Are you okay?

And I showed him my broken car key and his eyes lit up and he said, I can help with that.

I'm a car thief. It's just like he was telling me his name or that he was a brush salesman or something.

He said, I'm a car thief.

So I took a deep breath and he said, you know, I can start your car for you,

but I would have to follow you home because if you hit a bump, you might stall and I'd have to start the car again.

So I said, I need to call my dad. So fortunately there's a pay phone there by the building

...