Those Unknown Good Samaritans Helped Save My Mother’s Life. Thank You!

They were just doing what good human beings do, but their help has kept my family intact today, and my deep gratitude for them!

What I am writing about right now, is an incident that’s very close to my heart. It involves people I could never thank, hug or convey my gratitude to. I don’t even know their names and after so many years, definitely don’t remember their faces as well. But, whenever I sit in solitude thinking about life, things I am scared of, things that restored my faith in humanity, that day is what I remember the most.

I was about 5/6 year old at that time. My mother, father and myself, all three of us were going somewhere on a bike. I was sitting in the middle, Pa was driving and Ma was sitting behind me. Suddenly, I felt myself flying. Then a thud and I was sitting on the road.

What happened after that, I can only recall in bits and pieces. But, a few things are etched in my mind and heart. A lady picking me up and holding me tight in her arms while standing in the middle of the road, blocking the way of the driver of the car that had hit us (a white ambassador) and stopping him from getting away from the scene. I also remember her asking me if I needed some water to which I replied in between sobs that Mummy has told me to drink boiled water only (I was an obedient kid!).

Things after that are a blur. What I recall is sitting at the back of a car on Pa’s lap while Ma was laying down beside us. The white seat covers of the car started soaking in blood and I kept asking my father why Ma was not moving and if she were dead (I was at that stage probably too young to understand the concept of being unconscious). Papa kept answering in negative but I could sense that something was very wrong.

My father later told me that the first hospital we went to didn’t allow our car to pass through their gates because they didn’t take any accident cases. We had then gone to another hospital where finally Ma was admitted and treated. I also came to know later that the driver of the car who had offered us a lift to the hospital had refused to take any money from Pa even though his back seat covers were completely covered with blood. He didn’t own the vehicle. He was driving it for someone else but he was more humane than the hospital which had turned us out.

More than two decades have gone by since that day. Mumma recovered after being in hospital for about 20 days. I was hardly hurt and just had one or two bruises and Pa was not injured much as well. We often talk about that day and every time we do, we remember the people who selflessly helped us.

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If i could, if my family could, we would do anything to thank the lady who made sure that the accident didnt turn into a hit and run case by physically stopping the car that hit us and thank the man who gave us a lift by not bothering about his job, money or the trouble he could be in for helping us that day.

I have always believed that what we become, the kind of person we choose to be, depends a lot on the experiences we have had. This experience of mine taught me the importance of lending a hand to someone when they are in need, going out of the way to make sure someone is not in trouble and to have faith in humanity.

With so many hit and run cases happening almost every day with scores of accident victims left on the roads because no one bothered to help them out and are left to die, the presence of those two people in my life at that moment of need makes me ever grateful and thankful.

I would probably never cross paths with the lady who picked me up that day and took care of me while Pa kind of collected himself. Similarly, I am certain we’d never come across the man who gave us the lift to the hospital. But, I want to in some way or the other make an effort so that they both know I remember them and their kindness. It was their humanity that played a very important role in my life by turning a horrific accident into something that also taught me to be a better human being, making me thankful for their presence.

Since I never would be able to say this to them in person, this is my way of saying Thank You!

Image source: By Artur Andrzej (Own work) [CC0], via Wikimedia Commons, for representational purposes only

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