In this episode of Hidden Brain’s My Unsung Hero, host Shankar Vedantam presents the first‑person account of Sanaa (Sena) Kerroumi, a Moroccan PhD student living in France. While returning from a day at Disneyland Paris on a nearly empty tram, Sanaa, who wears a hijab, becomes the target of an Islamophobic tirade from a fellow passenger who accuses her and other Muslims of ruining Europe. A second French passenger, seated behind Sanaa, abruptly moves to the front of the tram, confronts the aggressor, pushes him toward the doors, and insists the driver stop the tram so the harasser can be removed. After the tram stops, the defender forces the attacker off the vehicle and remains at the doors to ensure he cannot re‑enter, then follows Sanaa to his building to make sure she reaches safety. Sanaa describes the incident as the first time she personally experienced such hatred, but emphasizes that the stranger’s courageous defense, despite having no shared cultural or religious background, became the defining memory of the day. She credits that act of allyship with giving her the emotional strength to stay in France, complete her doctorate, and later return to Morocco as an international management consultant. The episode closes with a call for listeners to submit their own unsung‑hero stories.
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I'm Shankar Vedantam, and from Hidden Brain Media, this is My Unsung Hero, stories where one person reached out to help another in a time of need.
Hi, Shankar. My unsung hero is a Frenchman. She had given me exactly what I needed in that time.
I was fortunate enough to survive. With the help of this man, this doctor, who went out of his way to help save my life. Today's story comes from Sena Kerumi. Some years ago, Sena was living in France, working on a PhD. One cold winter weekend, she and her friends took a break and spent the day at Disneyland Paris. They stayed as long as they could until it was finally time to catch the last train home. She calls it the tram. One by one, all of Sanaa's friends got off at their stops until she was the only one left.
And I noticed that the tram was super empty. Like, there were just 2 people in there, 2 guys, both of them French. And I wear the hijab, so I really stand out. Whenever I go, I do stand out.
One of the men was in the front of the tram. The other sat a few rows behind Sana. She didn't feel like either of them were paying her or her headscarf much attention, so she put on her headphones and looked out the window.
Something, like maybe the switch, like the time between music or something like this, when you have the small silence, I heard something and I turned and I saw this guy just being very agitated. He was waving his hands and swearing and just pointing in my direction. And I wasn't sure, like, if it was me or the other guy. Because I didn't do anything that may, like, trigger him to do that. So I assumed that he was probably talking to the guy behind me. I took my headphone off, and that's when I heard, like, all those very harmful words that he was saying. That we took the jobs, that we are making Europe uncivilized, that we are everything that is wrong with Europe and France. At that moment, I was like, yes, this is about me. This is definitely about me. I wasn't scared. I was just numb and shocked. Like, I didn't understand why is this happening. I didn't— it didn't even cross my mind that I would be in danger. But I was like, why? Why? Why? Why? What did I do? Like, why?
Just as Sana began to stand, the man who had been sitting behind her rushed to the front of the tram and placed himself between her and the angry man.
A few seconds, he was up front of me, and he kept on pushing the guy to the door of the tram. He kept on saying, you don't touch her, you don't say those words to her, she's just a student. Everything that's wrong with Europe is you. Like, this phrase, I remember it very clearly. Everything that is wrong with Europe is people like you. Not her.
The man defending Sena kept the angry man from getting close to her.
At the beginning, he kept pushing him toward the tramway door and at the same time yelling at the driver, stop the tram, this guy needs to— needs to get off at the next station.
Once the tram stopped, he pushed the man off the tram and then stood by the doors to make sure he couldn't get back on.
He stayed there, didn't talk to me, stayed by the door, just like watching me. This happens a lot when you are veiled, and especially in France. Like, when they see you as veiled, they really don't know how to interact with you. They don't know what are your boundaries. So I'm assuming that's why he didn't come and talk to me, although it would have not been a problem at all. I probably would have welcomed it.
But I'm pretty sure that, that Sana was too shocked to say anything either. She and the man stood in silence on the tram until her stop came. When she got out, the man followed and made sure she got into her building safely. Sana was still in too much shock to turn around and say thank you.
It was the very first time that I encountered something like it in my entire life. I heard stories. I, of course I did. Like, I knew that it's kind of a thing. It happens, but I never assumed that it would happen to me. And at the moment, like, even what the nice guy did didn't register. Like, I was still so focused on what the bad guy said. Why was he attacking me? What did I do? And then somehow I was like, ah, but wait, I wasn't alone in this. There was another guy who kind of knew that I didn't do anything wrong, that I didn't deserve the hatred, and The violence, and he actually defended me. And then I said, I was like, wait, he had no reason to defend me. He wasn't sharing the same beliefs and the same culture, and yet he was there. He actually put himself in danger by doing that. He could have gotten hurt. He could have gotten in so much trouble, and he didn't think about that.
Every time Sena experienced Islamophobia after that day, she remembered the man who defended her. His kindness and courage gave her the strength to remain in France.
I don't remember it as the day where I was attacked by a stranger. I remember it as the day where I was saved by a stranger. And that made all the difference. All the difference.
Listener Sena Keroumi. Some years after the incident, Sena finished her PhD and moved back to her home country of Morocco. When we spoke to her, she was working as an international management consultant. We'd love to hear about your own unsung hero. Use your phone to record your story in 5 minutes or less. And email it to us at myunsunghero@hiddenbrain.org. You can hear many more stories like this on our sister podcast, My Unsung Hero. Subscribe to that show, and you never have to miss an episode. I'm Shankar Vedantam. See you soon.
