< He was stranded after a serious car accident. Then an old white pickup pulled over

April 25, 20244:49 PM ET

He was stranded after a serious car accident. Then an old white pickup pulled over

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ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

Now for "My Unsung Hero," our series from the team at Hidden Brain. "My Unsung Hero" tells the stories of people whose kindness left a lasting impression on someone else. Today's story comes from Rick Mangnall. In the summer of 2008, Mangnall was making the long commute from his home in the remote mountains of California to his job at a community college. The drive took him down a road that was flanked on both sides by large slabs of granite. And all of a sudden, a scorpion that had gotten into his clothes crawled out and stung him in the back. When he tried to smash it, he accidentally yanked the steering wheel down and to the right.

RICK MAGNALL: And I hit that rock wall, and I still recall the sensation of my Honda Civic going airborne. Somehow I got out of the seat belt and just kicked what was left of the window out and crawled out into the road. About that time, an old, white Ford pickup going the other direction pulled over across the road from me. And two Hispanic guys jumped out, and one of them directed the other one to go up around the corner of the road to slow traffic down and direct it around me 'cause I was in the middle of the lane. And the other one came across the street.

I don't remember what he said or what I said, but he didn't speak more than a couple words of English. And he put his hand on my shoulder. And I tried to tell him he could go, but he would have none of it. He just stood with me. And he he stood there with me for maybe 20 minutes, maybe. We didn't have any conversation, but when the highway patrol showed up, I looked up and this fellow was gone. The truck was gone. They just melted away.

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MAGNALL: (Crying) I wish I had thanked him. Yeah, I wish I had thanked him.

SHAPIRO: Rick Magnall of Dexter, Ore. You can find more stories like this on the "My Unsung Hero" podcast.

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