15 Stories of People Being Saved by a Stranger They’ll Never Forget

Even the tiniest gestures, often dismissed as inconsequential, possess the potential to influence someone’s life profoundly. Be it a simple compliment or loaning an umbrella during a downpour, these seemingly insignificant acts of kindness can set off a chain reaction, inspiring complete strangers to engage in their own acts of benevolence.

• One time. A woman approached me, hugged me, and asked how my mom was. Then, after a few minutes, she whispered that she had noticed a man watching/following me and wanted to scare him off. She then walked me to my destination. I was only 14. gleefulthoughts / Twitter

• When I was maybe 4 or 5 years old, I made friends with another kid in an airport, and he was playing with a couple glued together Lego cars. That kid and I played for about an hour with those things. When it was time to go our separate ways and board the plane, the kid insisted I keep one of the cars, and while I insisted he should keep them, he said it was proof that we were friends, and to this day, roughly 20 years later, I still have that car packed up with my childhood mementos box. That friend of mine was a good kid. Hope he’s doin well. givebooks / Reddit

• When I was going to the local community college, I saw this girl outside of one of the classrooms having a serious breakdown. Out of the blue, while walking to class, I said, “You look like you need a hug.” She stopped pacing and stared at me for a bit, then gave me one of the most desperate hugs I have ever received. Afterward, I asked her if there was anything I could do, and she said that she was having a panic attack and just wanted to go home. The problem was that her purse and books were still in the classroom. I went to her classroom and said: “My sister isn’t feeling well, so I came by to pick up her things.” I handed her her things, and she thanked me profusely. WorkinAndLurkin / Reddit

• A pup (named Meadow) was lost for over a week. It was snowing, and it was pretty cold then, so the whole town rallied together to search for Meadow, but to no avail. The owner tried his luck and shared the lost dog poster on our local subreddit. A stranger Redditor responded immediately and offered to look for Meadow with his drone. But hope was very thin at that point, as it had been more than 10 days. Then, the owner got a ping from Reddit that the stranger found Meadow! Brian (the stranger) declined the $500 reward and donated it to the town’s animal shelter instead. butterscotcheggs / Reddit

• I was in a foreign country, so I didn’t have a car, and it was a weekend of a public holiday, so there was very little public transportation. A friend and I had explored the city and managed to walk quite a distance from our hotel. While we were out, over an hour away, it started raining harder than I remember seeing. It was gorgeous when we left but ridiculously cold and rainy on the way back. My buddy had brought a coat, but I was in a T-shirt.
  
  A lady walking down the street towards us with her umbrella stopped me and insisted I take her umbrella. I tried to refuse, but she insisted, telling me that her place was nearby. I was already drenched, but it sure did help to walk the remaining several miles with an umbrella instead of just my T-shirt. I try to pay it forward by being generous whenever I have something I don’t need. Rather than just repaying the one event, I want to be the kind of person that lady was.
  mlephotographe / Reddit

• I was at Disney World with my parents and wandered away to see some street performers’ shows. It went wrong when a little girl was chosen to throw a bowling pin. Her aim was way off; it was hurtling toward my 13-year-old face, and in response, I turned my face away and braced for impact. Only, it never happened. I heard the audience gasp and applaud as the kid texting beside me caught the pin inches away from my face. I was too shocked to say thanks; my parents pulled me out, and I couldn’t find him for the rest of the night. classygal / Reddit

• Once, as a child, I went skiing with my father in bad conditions and lost sight of him. I spent a long time shouting for him and crying. Finally, a stranger with a pink hat found me and guided me down the mountain to my dad. I’ll never forget her. eeyeit / Reddit

• One grocery week, when I was in college, I had my card declined. This was a problem as my kitchen was entirely out of food, and I wouldn’t be paid for another week. Being at the front of the line with $100 worth of groceries was awkward, having a hasty conversation with my girlfriend about how we would deal with this. Well, the guy behind us in line offered to pay for our groceries. I tried to talk him down, but he insisted, and I felt awkward holding up the line. I thanked him profusely, and he told me word for word, “Just pay it forward if you ever get the chance.” Ever since, I’ve been jamming a dollar or 2 into every donation box I see, tipping an extra 5%, giving my change to the homeless, and otherwise looking for opportunities to “pay it forward.” synthesizerToady / Reddit

• When I was getting off the bus in high school. Someone didn’t want to wait behind the bus, so they tried passing on the left. I should have been hit, but right before, some guy getting into his car whistled at me. I stopped and turned around to see who it was. That gesture probably saved me from being hit. BAM225 / Reddit

• I was visiting my sister in Japan. One day, while she was away at work, I took her bike and explored the small city she lived in. I was riding along when suddenly my back tire blew out. I started walking with the bike when a Japanese guy pulled up in his pickup, put the bike in the back of the truck, and told me to get in the passenger’s seat. In broken English, he said he was going to help me. He drove me to a bike shop, and he fixed the tire. He was the owner of this bike shop. SDSF / Reddit

• When I was around 18, my brother and some friends had a flat tire in the pouring rain. None of us had ever changed a tire, so we stared at the tire and fumbled around with the “tire-changing tools” while standing in water halfway up to our knees. Suddenly, a businessman in a suit stops and gets out of his SUV, changing the tire in about 30 seconds. We thank him, and he runs back, soaking wet, to his SUV. n1ch0la5 / Reddit

• We were a poor family. My mom had saved enough money to take my sister and me to the zoo & museum. We had a great day and even ate out. Then, on the way to the bus stop heading home, she realized she’d overspent & didn’t have enough to pay for all three of us to get there. We were looking at a 6-mile walk, and it had just started snowing.
  
  We duck into a small Chinese restaurant & ask if we can use the phone (mom was going to ask someone for a ride). The owner asked us why we needed the phone, and after mom explained, he gave us the money we needed to get on the bus and sent us home with enough food to feed 6 people.
  
  My mom told him we’d try to pay him back one day, but he asked we pay it forward instead. It was the first random act of kindness I’d ever received & sticks with me 30 years later. hassenoma01 / Reddit

• My husband and I were sitting on our porch holding hands and crying, just feeling overwhelmed because we were waiting to find out whether or not my tumor was cancerous. Our neighbor saw it when he was coming home. About half an hour later, he came over with freshly baked cookies. He didn’t even say anything, just smiled, handed them to us, and then returned home.
  
  Just thinking about that moment has me crying again. From his kindness, not the fear. Tammy, the Titty Tumor turned out benign! Reflection_Secure / Reddit

• I didn’t have the best childhood. My adoptive father has some unconventional parenting methods, and so I used to cry a lot. On one of these occasions, I was sitting on a park bench, crying softly to myself. An old lady sat at the other end of the bench, and we sat in relative silence for a few minutes. She noticed me wiping my eyes and asked me if I was ok. I told her I was, but she insisted on taking me to a nearby coffee cart and buying me hot chocolate. It was the nicest thing she could have done for me, and it was nice to know that someone cared. BeyondA*** / Reddit

• Once, when I was around 6 years old, I wrestled with my little brother in the front seat of my dad’s truck while he was inside a store, returning a movie. The truck was a stick shift parked at the top of a steep hill. One of us kicked the emergency brake, disengaging it, and the truck began to roll forward. I saw we were rolling right for the hill, but I was too young to know what to do. Suddenly, a guy runs up to the car, opens the door, and pulls up the e-break, stopping the truck from rolling. He never said a word to us. d420down / Reddit

Which of these stories touched you the most? Do you have your own story about how you helped a stranger? This stranger offered a kind gesture to an autistic little boy who had a meltdown, and their story put a smile on our faces.