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 story is about a group of unsung heroes.

He just pulled up a chair and we talked, I'd say for about 90 minutes.

I don't know if she really understands or appreciates the full impact that she's had in my life and still continues to have.

Today's story comes from Lauren Vaidares. After graduating from college, Lauren moved to

Central America for six years. While there, she worked at an international aid

organization, got her master's degree, and

fell in love with a man named Pedro.

And we got pregnant.

So we decided to take a beach trip for a weekend to the nearest beach was about three hours away.

We were at the beach, it was a beautiful day.

There were lots of people out and about, and lots of surfers and swimmers, and we decided

to go ahead and get in the water.

And what I didn't know about Pedro back then is that he was not a strong swimmer.

We got in pretty cautiously, and then before you knew it, we weren't touching the bottom.

We turn around and we're pretty far from where we started.

I'm treading water just fine.

And I noticed that Pedro's sort of struggling a little bit and here I am five months pregnant

about a hundred meters from the shoreline and my fiance now can't swim and he's starting to really struggle.

So my life starts flashing before my eyes and I'm thinking we're all going to drown.

We were far away from the shore and I wouldn't be able to take him in.

Out of nowhere comes a surfer on his board.

...