Good People Doing Good Things — They’re Everywhere!

Posted on by under animals, Bits 'n Pieces, Good people doing good things, Social commentary

Dennis Brown is a paraplegic who had a very frightening experience earlier this month …

“I had rented a car from Enterprise equipped with hand control.  I have been in the car several times. It seemed like the car was about to give out. I looked up. The front end was on fire.”

He started to panic while trying to get his wheelchair out. Then, suddenly, a stranger was by his side.

“The car is ablaze now. She is panicking. I’m like, ‘Oh, wow. This isn’t going to happen’.”

The woman quickly gave up on trying to assemble the wheelchair and pulled him out of the car.  Needless to say, Mr. Brown was extremely grateful, as was his mother who, upon learning of the dramatic rescue, said …

“I almost lost my child in this burning car. I cannot thank her enough. If she had not pulled him out, he would have burned in that car. She was his angel.”

Brown has been paralyzed since he was 22 years old, after a gunman shot him.  His rescuer, Tammi Arrington, humbly says she doesn’t deserve all the credit …

“Any human response — I think if they saw that, they would have done the same thing.”

I’m not so sure, though I like to think she’s right.

It happened in Berlin … an 18-year-old young man was rushing, trying to catch a departing bus, when he slipped and suddenly found himself trapped underneath the bus’s rear axle.  Luckily, the bus driver saw what was happening and immediately brought the bus to a stop, but the young man was still trapped, unable to move.

Enter about 40 good people!  Both passengers on the bus and bystanders who had seen what happened pulled together in a spirit of camaraderie to actually lift the right side of the bus and free the trapped young man.  Says Frank Kurze, one of the helpers …

“I saw the men trying to lift the bus, and it was clear to me that I also had to help lift the bus and attempt to extricate the young man from underneath.”

Nearby medical professionals from a healthcare facility in the Spandau neighborhood of Berlin swiftly arrived at the scene to provide vital first aid. Michelle Rueckborn, one of the responding nurses, shared their impromptu response, saying, “We were at work when we heard screams, and our boss looked out of the window and saw what had happened, and said ‘Take the doctor’s case and run.'”

The young man sustained only minor injuries, thanks to 40 people who cared enough to stop what they were doing to help a fellow human.  Thumbs up to them all!!!

I have often said that good people don’t necessarily have to be of the human species … dogs, cats, monkeys and wolves can sometimes be ‘good people’ too!  Today, I want to include a dog named Scout in my good people post.

Scout was a resident of the the Antrim County Animal Shelter in Bellaire, Michigan.  But in 2017, Scout decided he’d had enough of shelter life and seemed to know exactly where he wanted to go.  He climbed over one 10-foot chain-link fence, then a 6-foot solid privacy fence, crossed a busy highway in the darkness, entered the automatic doors of a nursing home down the road, walked unnoticed into the lobby, hopped onto a couch, curled into a ball and quietly went to sleep for the night.

The next morning when he was discovered, the Sheriff came and took him back to the animal shelter.  But Scout is a persistent guy and a few nights later he repeated his journey, was once again returned to the shelter the next day, and a few days later followed the exact same route to the exact same couch!  For some reason, Scout had decided that Meadow Brook Medical Care Facility was to be his forever home.  Says nursing home administrator Marna Robertson …

“I’m a person who looks at outward signs, and if it’s meant to be, it’s meant to be. He did that one time, two times, three times, and obviously that’s something that you should pay attention to. And I asked the staff, ‘Well, he wants to be here. Would anybody like to have a dog?’”

The staff formally adopted him. Suddenly, the nursing home had its own pet. And the residents were delighted.  Scout visits the residents’ rooms and has even learned how to get into their rooms by jumping up and using his paw to pull down on door handles. And he knows which residents keep dog biscuits in their walkers to give to him.

But perhaps most importantly, and the thing that qualifies Scout for a place in today’s good people post, is his sense of when one of the elderly residents needs him.  According to Jenny Martinek, the nursing home’s household coordinator …

“He’s always watching, making sure everybody’s OK. If somebody is in the passing process, he’s in and out of the room, checking on them. He’ll even want to climb in bed with them.”

And clinical care coordinator Stephanie Elsey says that “He can sense that. We’ve had a few in the past whose room he won’t leave. We had a resident that when he was passing away, Scout wouldn’t leave his room. He makes a good nursing home dog. He knows his job and he’s good at what he does.”

And this is what makes Scout a good ‘people’!  If you’d like to read more about Scout, check out this article in the Detroit Free Press! 

It’s easy these days to lose all hope for humanity, but just look around … there are good people out there, but sometimes they go unnoticed, for the not-so-good ones are the loudest voices while the good people are quietly going about the business of … doing good things for others.

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43 thoughts on “Good People Doing Good Things — They’re Everywhere!”

  5. My God, all stories are amazing. It is crazy how we can be caught up in shock caring about secondary stuff while the car is burning and maybe about to explode. And that man under the bus, thank God, the bus driver noticed, and so many people were at hand to help. That dog story is extraordinary. As if the dog knew he had a particular purpose to fulfill. Great stories, Jill. Thanks a lot for sharing!

    Liked by 4 people

    • Thanks, Erika! Yes, too often we get caught up in the day-to-day detritus and forget about the things that are truly important. I think most of us, though, have it within us to jump to action when a situation demands it. At least, I hope so. I did love Scout, though! And I do notice that when I’m not feeling well, or I’m depressed, our Oliver spends extra time in my lap, as if he can sense my mood. Glad you enjoyed the post! Come back next Wednesday for more ‘good people’!!!

      Liked by 1 person

      • I think, it even is about those spontaneous actions. Simply help when it is needed in the very moment. It is great to plan something greater but if you cannot help in the moment, then maybe something is not settled deep enough yet. But, of course, it depends on the situation. A pregnant woman won’t throw herself in front of a train to rescue someone… or maybe they will… yes, it totally depends. But I think there is always someone there when needed. Often in miraculous ways…
        Haha, you see, you got me ponder…lol

        Liked by 1 person

        • I’ve been thinking about writing a summary of life in a public glass cage streetside with sounds of hatred coming in the windows and stones hitting the outside of it night and day; unable to reach out for friendship, employment or even a private or even a regular parking space because those become focuses of my targeter, with my emails hitting people’s Spam folders, texts simply not arriving, automated phone systems and computers on the other end routinely malfunctioning and even my nail coming back with items removed; continuously mildly poisoned by tainted food, airborne toxins and EMP radiation and mocked in the streets when I absolutely have to run errands ~ but they’d lock me up for paranoia, right?

          It’s enough to make me think this work I do has some value to somebody, that they take so much trouble to remove every hope of normal interaction and happiness from me ~ and it’s pretty clear that it’s only because I find ways to remain in the public eye that I even still exist in any degree of freedom.

          Even that has been a mighty accomplishment. Animals die when deprived of sleep for three weeks ~ people lose functionality after only 36 hours ~ I’ve been operating deliberately sleep deprived for two years.

          Well, you were kind enough to ask and I’ve bent your ear with a big bummer. Sorry. Guess I’ll publish it, then at least it’ll spread a little awareness.

          Much love, Ana

          Liked by 1 person

    • “I’m a person who looks at outward signs, and if it’s meant to be, it’s meant to be. He did that one time, two times, three times, and obviously that’s something that you should pay attention to. And I asked the staff, ‘Well, he wants to be here. Would anybody like to have a dog?’”
      If it wasn’t for dogs we should probably give up on humanity. Zoo keepers are what gives me the confidence that the climate crisis will be survived.

      Liked by 4 people

    • Agreed … as long as we can still find good people, people with humanity and a conscience, then there is still hope, yes?

      I loved Scout and his story … yes, haunting, but still beautiful!

      Like

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