A New York City Doctor’s Small Act of Kindness for a Desperate Stranger Proves Compassion Still Exists

There are times when you are stuck, asking for help but starting to feel like nobody is listening, no kindness or compassion. Then out of nowhere, one person stops and pays attention. Sarah Lubarsky shares her story that happened in New York City. A young doctor she had never met stepped in when she and her fiancé had nowhere else to turn, and she has never forgotten him.

One evening, Sarah Lubarsky came home from work and realized something was seriously wrong with her fiancé, David. He was vomiting and his speech was slurred. She grabbed her purse and got him into a taxi.

She took him to the nearest hospital on New York City’s Lower East Side. They waited for hours but got no help. “We sat there for a couple of hours, and it was pretty clear that nobody was going to pay attention to him,” Lubarsky shares.

Time was of the essence so eventually the couple left and went to another hospital. Again, they waited. David was getting worse, and Sarah couldn’t get anyone to take them seriously.

So she had no option and rushed him to a third hospital. Sarah was explaining what was happening to the receptionist when she realized she was running out of options. She had already spent what little money she had on taxis.

She was stressed and frustrated and it began to look like this third try was failing too. Sarah broke down in the lobby. That’s when a doctor approached her. “All of a sudden, this person comes up to me and says, ’How can I help you? What’s going on here?’” Lubarsky recalled.

She told him everything. David was getting worse and they had already been to two hospitals, and nobody seemed willing to help. The doctor listened with patience and then told her he had recently finished his neurology residency at Lenox Hill Hospital.

“I’ll take him in the back and look.” He examined David and returned a few minutes later.

“You are absolutely right,” he told her. “Something is very wrong. You need to get up to Lenox Hill Hospital. I’ve already called the doctor I did my residency with. He’ll be waiting for you.” Sarah was relieved, but there was another problem.

“I don’t have any more money,” she told him and began to cry. The doctor became her guardian angel. “Without any hesitation, this young doc took a $20 bill out of his wallet, walked us out to the curb, shoved us into a cab, and said, ’Get up to Lenox Hill Hospital and they’ll take care of you,’” Lubarsky said.

Sarah never forgot the young doctor who had stopped to help them. She often wonders what might have happened if he hadn’t walked over that night. They could have gone home. They could have kept waiting somewhere else. Instead, one person took them seriously and helped them get to the right place.

“It’s not possible that I thanked him enough,” she recalled. “I honestly don’t know what would have happened if he hadn’t gone so far above and beyond for a complete stranger.”

Sarah now lives in Fairfield, Connecticut, and she and David have been together for more than four decades. They never found the doctor again.