A woman walked for miles in the middle of a thunderstorm to save her husband, but when she arrived at the service station, the manager refused to help her.
It was a dark and stormy night… Tara Wilson stared out of the service station’s wide window at the pouring rain and sighed. Just then, a streak of lightning flashed across the sky and the sound of thunder split the night.
Night duty at a gas station wasn’t exactly the exciting job Tara had been dreaming of when she went to journalism school, but unfortunately, she’d had to leave college to support her ailing mother. What Tara didn’t know was that the dreary night was about to become a lot more exciting.
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Even as Tara thought about her life, a frail figure was stumbling towards her in the dark, almost bent double against the force of the wind and the driving train. Tara was almost asleep when a gasping voice interrupted her reverie. “Please, oh please…”
Tara, who was seated behind the service station’s counter, jumped to her feet. In front of her, dripping equal portions of rain and mud was an older woman. Her clothes were plastered with oil, dirt, and mud, and dark streaks of makeup ran down her face.
“Ma’am?” Tara gasped. “I’m sorry, I didn’t hear you come in!”
The woman took another stumbling step forward and held on to the counter with desperate hands. “Please,” she gasped again, “I need your help…”
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“Oh I’ll just bet you do!” a harsh masculine voice interrupted. It was Tara’s boss, Mr. Anderson, the service station’s night manager who must have heard the woman enter from the back office where he spent his nights online on dubious sites.
Never deny a person in need of help.
“I’ve had enough of you derelicts walking in cadging hot food and coffee every time it rains.” Mr. Anderson snarled. “Get out!”
“Please,” the woman said in a calmer voice, and Tara noticed she had a sweet voice and an educated accent. “I need help, my phone is smashed…”
“Help?” sneered Mr. Anderson. “Did you drive here? Do you need gas? Or motor oil? Do you have money or a credit card?”
“No,” the woman said. “You don’t understand…”
“I understand you just fine.” the manager snarled. “Get out! No car and no money, you get nothing!”
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The woman pressed her shaking hands together. “My husband and I had a car accident, he’s lying unconscious on the road…All I ask is that you make a phone call!”
Tara made up her mind and stepped forward. “Ma’am, I’ll call 911 for you,” she said. She picked up the receiver of the service station’s landline and dialed. She frowned and picked up her cell phone then shook her head.
“I’m sorry,” she told the woman. “But the storm probably took down the phone lines and the cell tower. Where did you crash?”
The woman’s lips were trembling. “My poor John, oh my poor John…”
Tara came around the counter and put her arm around the woman’s sopping-wet shoulders. “Come on, Ma’am, I’ll drive you to him. We’ll take him to the hospital.”
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The manager was enraged. “You most certainly will not!” he screamed. “You walk out that door and you’re fired!”
Tara looked at Mr. Anderson and said quietly. “Go ahead, fire me. But I won’t leave a man dying by the roadside.”
“Thank you, my dear,” cried the woman. “My husband is an influential man, you won’t regret this.”
“No matter who your husband is, I won’t regret it, Ma’am,” said Tara as she settled the woman into her car and buckled her seat belt. “My mother always taught us to help whenever we could, no matter who it is.”
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With the woman’s guidance, Tara found the scene of the accident. The car was completely destroyed, and by the side of the road and covered with a blanket was an older man.
“John,” the woman cried kneeling by his side, “I’m here, darling, I found help!” The man opened his eyes and tried to speak, but he was obviously too weak. Tara and the woman managed to get him into her car’s backseat, and they drove to the hospital through the pouring rain.
As soon as the hospital’s staff had the man in hand, Tara asked them to take a look at the woman too, who was shivering from shock and exhaustion, then she allowed herself to sink into one of the waiting room chairs.
A while later, a tall young doctor came over and asked if she had been the one who’d brought the older couple over. “Yes,” Tara said. “Are they alright?”
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“Thanks to you!” said the doctor with a smile. “Mrs. Smythe told me what you did. Her husband had internal bleeding, and another half an hour would have been too late. We’re also treating Mrs. Smythe for shock and hypothermia.”
“Mrs. Smythe, that’s the lady’s name?” asked Tara. “And they are going to be alright?”
“Yes, you saved their lives,” said the doctor, casting Tara an admiring look. “You’re a hero!”
“No,” said Tara. “Mrs. Smythe is the hero. She walked five miles in the rain to get help for her husband, and she never gave up!”
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As it turned out, Mr. Smythe was the owner of the local TV station, and his news team told the story of how Tara lost her job to save two lives. Mr. Anderson was mentioned by name, and his boss fired him for casting the company in a bad light.
When Mr. Smythe discovered that Tara was a semester away from her journalism major, he hired her as a junior reporter. She was earning a lot more than she had at the service station and doing what she loved.
Rumor has it that Tra has been dating a handsome young doctor she met in an emergency room one dark and stormy night, and he might be on the verge of popping the question…
What can we learn from this story?
- Never deny a person in need of help. Mr. Anderson wanted to run Mrs. Smythe off because she was dirty and he thought she was poor and homeless and it ended up costing him his job.
- Life rewards the kindest hearts. Tara risked her job to help Mrs. Smythe but got the job of her dreams and met a wonderful man.
Share this story with your friends. It might brighten their day and inspire them.
If you enjoyed this story, you might like this one about a man who discovers his youngest son isn’t his and keeps the secret his whole life.
At 74, Jay Leno Prepares for the Inevitable, Sets Aside Fortune for His Cars — ‘No One Lives Forever
After leaving behind his successful career as the host of late-night talk shows, Jay Leno launched a web series on nbc.com (2015 to 2022) about cars.
Jay Leno’s Garage, now appearing to more than 3.7 million subscribers on YouTube, allows the comedian to share his passion for cars and bikes with his audience.
In November 2022, the former Tonight Show host was badly burned when a fire broke out in his Burbank, California garage.
“I got some serious burns from a gasoline fire.” Leno told Variety at the time “I am OK. Just need a week or two to get back on my feet.”
According to reports, the now 74-year-old man was working under a car when the fire sparked. He suffered third degree burns on his face and got a new left ear after losing his first one to the fire.
Unfortunately, his luck didn’t get any better.
Only two months after the fire, he suffered a broken collarbone, two cracked ribs and two cracked kneecaps in a motorcycle accident.
‘Treats Mavis like gold’
Despite his body breaking down with aging, passion-related accidents and high cholesterol, the one thing that holds strong in his life is his love for Mavis, who he married in 1980.
“I always tell guys when they meet a woman, ‘Marry your conscience. Marry someone who’s the person you wish you could be and it works out okay.” Leno tells People of his enduring love with Mavis, now 77.
After 45 years together, the childless couple started facing some hardships.
Mavis was diagnosed with dementia and her condition is rapidly declining.
In April 2024, Leno was granted a conservatorship over his wife’s estate by a Los Angeles Superior Court judge who ruled the measure was “necessary and appropriate.”
According to court documents obtained by Entertainment Tonight, “Mavis has been progressively losing capacity and orientation to space and time for several years.”
The filing also says and “Jay is fully capable of continuing support for Mavis’ physical and financial needs, as he has throughout their marriage,” but her “current condition renders her incapable of executing the estate plan.”
Included in the documents is a statement from her neurologist Dr. Cohen: “Sometimes [Mavis] does not know her husband, Jay, nor her date of birth.”
Cohen, Mavis’ attending doctor at Cedars Sinai, adds that Leno “loves his wife very much” and “treats [Mavis] like gold.”
‘No one lives forever’
Only months later, In Touch reports that Leno is now preparing for his own death, making end-of-life arrangements so his fortunes are delivered to the rightful beneficiaries.
The filing reads: “No one lives forever, and the actions taken by Mr. Leno are reasonable and necessary for his and Mavis’ protection. Mavis does not object to the petition and in my opinion consents to it. Mr. Leno is her protector, and she trusts him. This estate planning is in her best interest and protects her interests.”
Leno’s latest filing details provisions for Mavis’ care and discloses that the couple intends to stay in their home “for as long as reasonably possible,” using their money for “assistance from household employees or caregivers as may be necessary.”
If Leno dies first, “the estate will divide into the Leno Marital Trust…it will have the Leno Collection and any real property housing Leno Collection. It will be irrevocable, and the survivor receives all income, plus principal for reasonable support. After the survivor’s death, after-tax balance will be distributed, along with the Leno Trust to JDM.”
The Leno Collection is Leno’s collection of automobiles and motorcycles, that’s valued at more than $52 million, and any real property.
Leno also instructed the JDM Foundation, a charity he launched in 1988, to open a museum with his automobile collection, and he’s already named the three initial directors.
In addition, Leno is leaving $7 million to Mavis’ brother Rikki Nicholson, who lives next door, and to his nephew Richard Leno.
The court-appointed official said Leno’s amendments to the trust will likely be approved.
It’s hard to imagine a world without Jay Leno! Please let us know what you think and then share this story so we can send Leno and Mavis a lot of love!
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