What is the most memorable moment you shared with a stranger who you never saw again?

[kgfreo]

In my line of work I came across a lot of people during the worst times of their lives but this happened when I was off duty.

I was driving to my parents house when I saw an older lady laying on the footpath with blood pouring down her face. There was a huge cut on her forehead and her brow ridge was swelling up. I pulled my car across the road and asked her if I could help her or if I could call anyone for her. She refused to let me bring her to a doctor and couldn’t remember any phone numbers so I brought her to a nearby chemist and the shop assistants started to clean her up and got her tea. I felt like a spare part and left quietly.

A few months later I had to go back to the same chemist and when I approached the counter, the assistant said “It’s you!! You’re the girl who helped a woman who had fallen on the road! We’ve been looking and talking about you for months”.
She went on to explain that the lady had been searching for me for months and was referring to me as an Angel that came out of nowhere and disappeared as quick as I had appeared. I asked the shop assistant not to mention that she’d met me. I’m not that significant of a person and I think it’s a nicer thought for that lady to hold on to instead of meeting me.

There are plenty more stories but that means more as I was not in a uniform just “doing my job”.

Sitting outside the big double doors of resuscitation, feeling that devastation with a stranger. In her case her husband had gone to buy the Sunday morning paper and stepped in front of a car- life changed in an instant.

The births of my dd's.

Going to another ward when I was on night duty to see if they had a drug we needed, a patient called me over and pointed out a man ‘who didn’t look well’ poor man was not breathing , so pulled the crash buzzer, and started resus, nurses arrived, resus team arrived, asking me questions etc…told them I knew nothing about this patient, I let them take over and left the ward. I never knew his name or if he survived, never forgotten him though

Not complete strangers as they attended the church I worked at (in an administrative position) but I've twice sat and held the hand of someone as they died because I couldn't locate a vicar or pastoral worker, I felt privileged that the family invited me in at such a private moment of their lives and felt comforted by me. I've now moved so won't see them again

When our cat was hit by a car, and I'd found her on the road outside our house. I cried over her and a woman pulled over in her car, used her cardigan to pick up our cat and brought her to the garden and helped me bury her. I had been in the house by myself and DH was away overnight so I had no one to help. She made me a cup of tea, cried with me, then left. Never got her full name or number, I was distraught and didn't think to ask. We moved a few months later so even if she came back I wasn't there.
The lady is called Susie and was the kindest stranger I ever met.

Mine aren't as profound as some of these, but I have 2.

• standing at the Ground Zero memorial. It was peaceful and incredibly moving. A man standing next to me simply looked at me, put his hand on my shoulder and said "almost unbelievable, isn't it?". We looked each other then he walked away.

• I was waiting for a call to say that my Grandad had died. I lived alone at the time and wasn't close to anyone else. His death was expected, so I went shopping for a suitable funeral outfit (it was a weekend). M the call came and I stood in the street sobbing my heart out. A lady came over to me, hugged me and gave me a tissue. She asked I was ok and when I nodded she smiled kindly and walked off.

The kindness of those two strangers was so comforting.

While letting in a plumber, our neighbour's six year old darted between the gates which began to close on her head, idiotically these gates had no sensor so continued. I pulled the gate off her with the plumber and we just stood there and shook with shock and adrenaline while her parents comforted her. (She was fine)

Nothing as big as some of these stories and there might be other ones but this one comes to mind. I was walking across a bridge and I just froze with fear. I’m not the best with heights and bridges but this had never happened before. I just couldn’t move. A woman took my hand and helped me across.

I had some bad news as I was flying home from a trip. Sat in Heathrow airport trying not to cry to obviously, a kind woman stopped to check in on me. I wasn’t really in a state to talk to anyone but she sat quietly with me for a while and gave me a pack of tissues. Grateful for her kind support.

Also grateful to the gate staff on that flight. I asked them if I could board early as I was barely holding myself together and they let me go through.

During the jan 21 Covid lockdown I lived alone with my ds and had recently had a close relative die by suicide. I got chatting to another mum in a park as our kids played. She was desperate to leave her abusive husband but couldn't until lockdown was over. We poured our hearts out to each other whilst the kids played.
It brings tears to my eyes now, I hope it all turned out ok for her.

I extracted a man from his car after he had an awful crash after a van hit him on a crossroads and his car rolled. He was panicking and thought he was trapped so I tried to calm him and show him he wasn't. Then I sat on the grass with him until the emergency services arrived. Still remember his sandwiches thrown all over the road (he was on his way to work) - that stuck with me for some reason.

I was travelling back home up north from a conference in London on the Virginia West Coast mainline. I'd not long returned to work from mat leave and had struggled with PND. On the train home I was scrolling the news and saw that a piece of research I'd been working on for a year was front page news. I had spent Euston to crewe happy/sad silently crying to myself as i was so proud but so exhausted, hoping the fella opposite didn't notice.

Went for a wee at crewe, came back to my seat and there were two bottles of red wine on the table. Apparently the guards were giving out free bottles (later confirmed, it was 1st class afterall) as we were the last train. He said I lookeded like I needed a drink and got us one each.

We got WASTED very quickly between crewe and Liverpool lime St. Purely platonically, talked about all sorts including our families at home.

It was a very pleasant time, not at all creepy and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I was so drunk that I lost my phone on the taxi home.

I used to work in a shop, one day a pregnant teenage girl came in with her mum to buy bits for her hospital bag. The mum wasn't exactly supportive, she was ranting at the girl all round the shop about how much this was costing her, how could she have been so stupid etc. The girl looked so downtrodden and defeated I can only assume this was a regular thing and not just a one off, I never saw her again but I often wonder how she got on after she had her baby and hope she got the support she needed. The child she was pregnant with would be about 16 now.

I was on an early morning train with only a few passengers in the carriage. I had noticed a man sitting opposite who kept looking over at me so I kept gazing out of the window or looking straight ahead. He got off a few stops before me and, as he passed my seat, he leaned over, gave me the most gorgeous smile, and said " In another life..." I was so taken aback and I know I frowned but I've never forgotten that morning! And, yes, I did look for him every day for several weeks!

Not really a strange, a SEN volunteer trainee barrister. Changed my life and my child's life forever helping my inna SEN tribunal. Never saw him again. My son is doing amazingly in a mind blowing school now

Mines nothing like these but it's memorable for me. When I got out of the car having just passed my test the driver of the car in front got out too. He looked over at me and I held up my certificate. He shouted me too, ran over, grabbed me, we hugged then jumped up and down still hugging & laughing with pure excitement. We stopped got into our respective cars with our instructors & left

It was such a spontaneous thing but we were just both clearly so relieved to have passed. Still makes me smile

I work in customer care and one day a gent came in,ordered his food and sat down

i just knew there was something wrong-I can’t put my finger on what-just something

Anyway,we got talking and the poor guy shared that he’d been walking past on his way to the local motorway bridge to throw himself off and something pulled him into work

I sat with him for a long time-way past my shift ending and talked him down off that bridge mentally-his girlfriend had left him,taking his dd with her,his holiday had had to be cancelled-and a lot more but I won’t say out of respect for him

he promised to see his doctor the next day and talking to me helped him see it wasn’t that bad

the next day,I got a message at work to say he’d rang and to say thank you to me and that he’d poured his heart out to his gp who started to get him the help he needed-I saved his life

about 2 years later,he walked in-he was clean,smartly dressed and he had his new girlfriend with him,she was pregnant with his baby and his life was on the up-it was an emotional reunion to say the least

I wish him all the happiness in the world-he was a lovely guy who’d just lost his way a bit

Being in a children’s ward with my then four month old daughter as she recovered from planned, but major, surgery.

An older child on the ward would scream as he got his dressings changed, after being in a fire. It was heartbreaking to hear.

He was well enough to be mobile by this point, and would carry a photo around with him to show people what he used to look like. Harrowing.

I have mental issues and went through a phase where I heard voices telling me to kill myself.

i was in the park with my son sitting on the bench ans another mum sat beside me. We started chatting. Mid conversation she mentioned she was worried about her young daughter who was hearing voices. I ended up telling her about the voices I heard: ans weirdly: they sounded the same!

First term university. My mum rang to say my granny had died. It wasn’t massively unexpected but we were really close she lived opposite us growing up and was very involved in our lives. I stupidly still went on a night out but had to come home as felt devastated. My supposed friends didn’t come with me. Went back to my halls on my own and a random girl I didn’t know and her male friend got into the lift and saw I was upset and sat with me all evening. They had both lost a parent themselves . They were so kind. Never really saw them again.

The manager of our local disabilities supply place. DH was at home on end of life care and, a few days beforehand, had fallen off his bed and broken his leg. He was pretty immobile and wheelchair dependent but we couldn't manage his cast in the wheelchair so the OT ordered a leg support for him to be fitted to the chair ASAP. The day before it was due to be fitted there was a call to say that due to the bad weather (snow) they wouldn't be able to get to us, I cried when I heard the news and said I understood but getting outside was one of DH's last wishes and I didn't know how much longer he'd be able to tolerate sitting in the chair. The next morning two guys from the company turned up at the door having battled many miles of rural snow covered roads so they could fit the part, the manager had a 4 wheel drive so he'd driven the tech who was coming to fit the part. I did manage to get DH outside one final time and the joy on his face was immense, he was non verbal by this time but his face spoke a thousand words. I will never ever forget their kindness that day.

I was at university coming home on the train after a bad break up. Over 20 years ago so no smart phones for entertainment.

A guy got on and we chatted. He gave insights and 'advice' about healing and expectations on relationships.

Even though we were similar in age he wasn't hitting on me.

He got off at Reading and that was that.

I wrote down loads of his thoughts and think about him often. He really helped me. Lovely bloke.

Nothing as dramatic as some of these stories, but when I was a teenager (and full of all the bravado that brings!), me and a friend came across a group of other teenagers that were clearly looking for a fight. We both agreed we shouldn’t have to walk another way home and carried on walking . In my defence, I lived in a village where nothing usually happened.

Half way through the group of teens, one shouted that we were friends with ‘Sam’… who they were meeting to fight. Apparently this was a good reason for the girls to beat us up?

Anyway, one of the boys casually slung an arm over my shoulder and started asking how my mum was doing. He calmly walked us through his group of friends, telling them he knew us and to leave us alone. I’d never seen him before in my life 🤷‍♀️. I hope he’s doing well and has made some less aggressive friends.

The man who talked to my daughter when she was trapped in her car.

He left shortly after I arrived and before the fire brigade got her cut out.

Thanks mate where ever you are. I owe you a pint.

Lovely if heart breaking stories some of these.