From Hidden Brain Media, I'm Shankarvedantam. This is My Unsung Hero, stories where one person

reached out to help another in a time of need.

My unsung hero is my therapist, Sara.

I said, it's okay.

I still love you.

You're still my best friend.

So if she hears this, I just want to say thank you.

Today's story comes from Julie Ortt.

A few years before college,

Julie suffered a major spinal cord injury.

She was still recovering when she arrived on campus,

which meant she had to walk with a leg brace and orthopedic crutches.

One day, early on in her freshman year she was

late to her physics class. It was in a large lecture hall with stadium seating so

everyone could see her as she awkwardly made her way up the stairs.

I was carrying most of my books for the day because I was too slow to make it back to my

dorm room in between classes and I'd a seat five seats in on the second row and

just figured I'd sit there that it would put me close enough to kind of blend in.

But as I was scooting sideways between the first and second rows, that's when all of the laws of inertia, momentum decided to conspire against me. My backpack shifted

and I began to free fall backwards. Meanwhile my leg shot straight up in the air so that the

entire class was framed between my knees as they

in unison gasped, some of them reaching their hands out

...