In this Hidden Brain "My Unsung Hero" episode, host Shankar Vedantam introduces listener Justin Horner, who recounts a 2011 roadside incident on a Portland freeway. After his tire blew out, Justin displayed signs asking for help but was ignored for three hours. A migrant agricultural family—who spoke little English except their young daughter—stopped to assist. The man fetched a saw, cut a log to use as a makeshift jack, and together they lifted the car. When the lug wrench broke, the family’s wife replaced it, and they helped install the spare tire. After the repair, the family offered Justin a tamale and ingeniously hid his $20 bill inside it, later returning it with a smile and the phrase “today you, tomorrow me.” The story highlights spontaneous generosity, resourcefulness, and the reciprocal nature of kindness, emphasizing that anyone can be vulnerable and in need of help.
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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. Hello.
My unsung hero story is from a doctor I heard over 30 years ago. He's an unsung hero because he rarely got any recognition for his huge heart and his unselfish actions. You mean the world to me, and I can't thank you enough.
Today's story comes from Justin Horner. In 2011, Justin was driving down a busy freeway in Portland, Oregon, when his tire blew up. He had a spare, but he needed a jack. So he made some big signs that said he needed help, put them in his car window, and waited on the side of the road. For 3 hours, No one stopped. Then, right around the time he was about to give up and try to hitchhike, a van pulled up.
And out bounded, I guess, what I would call my unsung heroes. It was a migrant working family, agricultural family that was in Oregon picking fruit. And they didn't speak any English save for their youngest daughter, who was probably like 5 or 6. She spoke a bit of English, and they just immediately set about helping. They came over, they— he unloaded his jack, and it was pretty obvious from the get-go that the jack was going to be too small, but the man was just, like, undeterred.
The man seemed to know exactly what to do next. First, he went back to his van and returned with a saw. Then he found a big log on the side of the road and cut a section out of it. Together, Justin and the man rolled the wood over to the car, put it under the jack, and managed to lift the car. Now they just had to remove the busted wheel. So the man gave Justin his lug wrench, and Justin started twisting the bolts out of the tire. But the wrench was flimsy, and before he knew it, it was broken.
I just sheared the head clean off of it. And the guy just took it from me, and he immediately gave it to his wife. They had a short conversation, and she got in the van and took off. It was explained to me that she was going to go replace it, and she was back in no time. When she returned, we were able to get the wheel off, and we were able to get the spare on, and it was just amazing. And, you know, when we got finished, uh, she even produced this big water jug, you know, what you would dump on a coach at the end of a winning football game, and we were able to wash our hands, and I just thanked them and thanked them and thanked them, and I tried to give her money. I only had a $20 bill, and I just thought, you know, you drove around, you've been here for an hour, it's the least I could do, and she just wouldn't take it, and, you know, I understood, you know, they just wanted to help, but I was really adamant about giving them this money. I eventually just kind of put it in her hand, and I just said, you know, there's no way I'm taking this money, and I kind of walked away, and it was when I walked away that their little girl called out, and she asked me if I was hungry, and in fact I was starving. I was on my way to lunch when I had the blowout, and she brought me a tamale from their cooler and thanked me, and I thanked her, and she jumped in the car, and they just took off. And as they're trying to get into traffic, I unwrap the tamale and my my money is in the tamale. Like they had unwrapped the tamale, they'd put the twenty in, and then they'd wrapped it back up. And I just immediately get out of the car and I run up to the van. He's still trying to get into traffic, and he rolls down his window. He sees me coming, and he's just shaking his head. And I'm I'm just I keep saying like por favor, por favor. Like I'm holding the bill out. And he just kind of puts his hand up and he just, you know, with this big smile on his face, he just says, today you, tomorrow me. And gave me a wave and he rolled up the window and drove onto the road and took off. The last thing I saw was his daughter in the back just waving goodbye. And I never saw him again. It's weird. It's— it just seemed like some, you know, chicken soup for the soul kind of thing, right? Today you, tomorrow me. Like, it could have been you, it could have been me. But when you start taking it apart, it's kind of big. I think at the end of the day, it just shows you that Everyone can be vulnerable in a given situation, and that everybody needs help.
Listener Justin Horner is from Portland, Oregon. If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to check out our new podcast, My Unsung Hero, where you'll find more stories like this that recognize people who step up in a moment of need. I'm Shankar Vedantam. See you soon.
