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.

I would like to thank my unsung hero.

I do not know her.

He just pulled up a chair and we talked.

I'd say for about...

I can't even express to you how much you've changed my life.

In the summer of 2024, Caroline Davis and her partner were doing a DIY project at their home

that required 1,500 pounds of gravel. So she headed to a home

improvement store and started filling up her Toyota Corolla. I'm loading up my gravel. There are these

50-pound bags. I'm squatting. I'm loading, loading, and this older man comes over. And he says,

hey, I don't think your car can fit that and he says do you know

that your car has a weight limit and I'll be honest no that feels to me like something your dad would tell

you and my dad died of a heart attack at age 57. So I didn't know that from him.

And I don't know to Google a weight limit if I've never even thought about a car's weight limit.

So I'm thinking I have to unload everything from my car.

I need to get it back.

We're pouring concrete at home.

We need the gravel.

And he says, I can load you up in my truck.

Do you live nearby? And I say yes.

So this man, this stranger, he helped me unload my whole car loads up his truck. We swap phone numbers.

...