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.

Thank you so much for the chance to tell you

about my unsung hero.

I just left there feeling like there was hope for my situation and my kids.

I can never thank you enough for all you've done for me, and I'll never be able to repay you.

Thank you.

Today's story comes from Del Riesed. Del will never forget the day in 1974

when she and her little sister Rachel

was sitting in the back seat of the car

as their mother drove.

Del was four, and her sister was three.

We were stopped at a light and my sister who was upset at the time and inconsolable and crying, wanted to get in the front seat of the car and people

didn't really use car seats that much during that time.

So my sister just undid her seat belt

and crawled from the back to try to get over that seat in the front to go sit with my mom.

And when that happened, she slipped and fell backwards and ended up landing with her foot on the door

the door handle

opened up and she fell out right on to the door opened up and she fell out right onto the road and she had some really serious bodily injuries.

My mom ran out in a panic and someone had to call the ambulance because we didn't have cell phones at that time.

When the ambulance arrived, my mom had to go in the ambulance with my sister to the hospital and she needed somebody

to be in the car with me until someone could come and retrieve me from that accident site.

...