When Lia Eastep was 21, her father had a stroke. His mind was as sharp as ever, but he lost the use of his left arm and became unsteady on his feet. A few years later, around Christmas, their family took a trip to New York City. To make it easier to get around, her father rented a wheelchair.
One afternoon, they all got on a busy subway. Eastep's dad decided to stand and hold onto a pole so they could collapse the wheelchair and give others more room on the train. Just as he got up, the train took off. Her father tipped forward — into the direction of a young man sitting nearby.
"It happened so fast," Eastep said.
"But the guy just opened his arms, and my dad fell right into him. He caught him, and it was like they were embraced in this hug — like this extended hug of strangers."
The whole family gasped. She remembers one of them calling out, "Dad!" and the man's calm response: "I got Dad."
"It was just the sound of his voice. I'll never forget that. He was very cheerful but also very reassuring — like, 'I got this.' And he did."
Eastep's father couldn't get back on his feet, and it became clear that they would have to stay like that until the next stop. Instead of focusing on the fall, the man struck up a casual conversation.
"It was like, 'Hey, what are you guys doing in town?' You know, 'What show did you go see?'"
When the train came to a stop, the man and some other riders helped her dad get up and made sure he was stable. Then the man wished them happy holidays and went on his way.
It wasn't until years later that Eastep understood the significance of the stranger's act of care.
"It took on greater meaning to me as I got older and as I learned to recognize my dad's vulnerability," she said. "He provided some kind of dignity to my dad by just making it no big deal."
The encounter lasted only a few minutes, but Eastep never forgot it.
"This man ... became a role model to me of how I would like to be with people if I'm ever called upon in an emergency — the way that man was with my dad," she said.
"It really made a big impact."
My Unsung Hero is also a podcast — new episodes are released every Tuesday. To share the story of your unsung hero with the Hidden Brain team, record a voice memo on your phone and send it to myunsunghero@hiddenbrain.org.
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