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 do not know the full name of my unsung hero.

She came straight up to me, she looked me in the eyes, and she smiled.

So whoever you are, thank you so much.

Today's story comes from Will Davenport,

a warning that this story contains a reference to suicide. In the fall of 2014, Will was in a dark

place. He had just lost a special job and his mental health began to unravel.

And I just remember feeling and his mental health began to unravel.

And I just remember feeling such self-destructive thoughts

about how I must have done something terrible

to lose that job.

I must be terrible to have lost that job. And by the end of

December, I had actually attempted to take my life.

And so I went into the hospital and was admitted to the inpatient program of the emotional health part of our hospital.

Now I remember for days, even weeks, not feeling like any progress was happening.

So in between our therapy sessions and whatever else we were doing I would walk laps

inside this locked unit and as a severely depressed person I was not walking fast and that just gave me lots of time to think about the negative thoughts that were spiraling inside of me.

But I remember one day, one of my therapists, I believe her name was Yvette, was walking toward our community room where our sessions happened at the same time when I was walking that part of the circuit.

And kind of with a rye smile on her face, she looked over at me and she said,

I bet I'll beat you to the community room.

And somehow that small act triggered something inside of me and I didn't want to be beaten.

...