One of the worst feelings in the world is finding yourself stuck in a situation or place where you know that no one can come to your rescue. It can be a very isolating feeling and can even lead to a number of mental issues if care is not taken. Being stuck is already bad, but when you add that to being all alone and with no reliable person for you to rely on, then that’s just a double tragedy.
But then, no matter how well-connected we are, or how sweet our countenance is, there will always come a time when we will find ourselves in unfavorable conditions. Periods when we’d be surrounded by people who don’t know us or who simply don’t care. How they treat us then could decide just how the rest of our lives could go. Well, it did for me.
The story of kindness I’m about to tell you didn’t happen to me, it happened to my Mom, but I also felt the kindness in extension and that’s why I wanna tell the story. I’ve talked before about how my Mom is a teacher, and as someone who always has to struggle with traffic on a daily basis, she had the routine down pat. However, things seemed to take a different direction one hot afternoon on her way home from school one day.
What really happened is still not clear to me, however, I know that when she tried to cross a seemingly clear road, a car had come out of nowhere and drove right for her. Now, there wasn’t an outright collision, but it was bad enough that it caused my Mom to fall to the ground, right there in the middle of the road where even more cars could come at her at any second.
The people who actually took charge of the situation is the shocker of the story. We call them Agberos here and they are generally seen as thugs due to the way they behave. The moment the thing happened, the driver of the car drove off, but some of the agberos chased it down, using busses and bikes. Others stayed behind and helped my Mom off the road. She had a bit of a sprained ankle and some scratches. But other than that, she was fine. However, due to the sprained ankle, she couldn’t walk well without assistance and she still needed to be looked at by a professional.
Soon agberos returned with the car that almost hit my mom and they forced him to drive her to the nearest clinic. About two of them went with my Mom and the driver to ensure that he didn’t try anything funny. One of them was even an okada rider who left his bike behind just for this. It was while they were at the clinic that my mom called us and told us where to come get her. The guys didn’t leave until the doctor had looked properly at my Mom and also billed her. However, the driver was made to pay for it all.
It was only when all was said and done that they all left. My Mom remained at the clinic for about two more hours before she was cleared to go home. Because of her leg, we had to hire a vehicle that took us right from the clinic to the house. It was quite a shocking experience because this was something that no one would have expected.
I’ve heard stories of how accident victims have been relieved of their phones and wallets during all that confusion. However, these guys just paused everything they were doing and made sure that my Mom was safe and the driver paid for what he did. Police weren’t involved, and everyone went home happy.
From that moment, it changed my perspective of these guys. I used to see them as touts, but not anymore. Just like everyone else, there are bad eggs who only try to spoil the name of everyone else. I greet and smile at them anytime I pass them on the street and when I can, I even buy them a drink or two. It’s been years since that incident, but it changed so much for me. Because I learned that even in the place you least expect it, help can still come in a way that will defy all odds.
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