From Hidden Brain Media, I'm Shankar Vedantam. This is My Unsung Hero.

Hello, my Unsung hero is a woman.

Hey, I wanted to share my story about an unsung hero.

My unsung hero is the man in the Panama hat on the flight to Boston.

Is the plane near touchdown my daughter? I can't even express to you how much you've changed my life.

Today's story comes from Rick Magnol.

In the summer of 2008, Rick was making the long commute from his home in the remote mountains

of Three Rivers, California, to his job at a community college in the town of Viselea. At the time he was

living in a travel trailer which was often invaded by the abundant wildlife in the area.

He would find bats in his curtains,

rattlesnakes under his trailer,

and bears at his window.

But the one that is most problematic for me the scorpions.

And they get into everything.

They get into cabinet somehow, they get into a drawer with your clothes.

And the only way to stop it is to smash them.

That particular day, I got up, put my clothes on, got in the car, and started driving.

The drive took him down a road that was flanked on both sides by large slabs of granite rock.

All of a sudden, a scorpion that had somehow gotten into his clothes

crawled out and stung him on the back.

When he tried to smash it, he accidentally yanked the steering wheel,

down and to the right.

...