This story is part of the My Unsung Hero series, from the Hidden Brain team. It features stories of people whose kindness left a lasting impression on someone else.
When she was 4 years old, Terry Hill and her two young siblings were left in the car by themselves as their father ran into a donut shop. This was 1968, when leaving children unattended for a short time was common. What happened that day would become a story Hill has told and re-told her entire life.
Hill was in the back seat while her siblings — Julie, 2, and Mikey, 1 — were in the front seat. As they waited for their father, Mikey began to cry.
"So, I said to him, 'Play car-car, Mikey,' [because] I thought that might distract him," Hill recalled.
The front seat of the car was a long, continuous bench cushion and Mikey wasn't wearing a seat belt, so he was able to slide over to the driver's seat.
Somehow, as he played with the steering wheel, Mikey hit the gear shift. The car moved into neutral. And because it was parked on a slight hill, it started rolling backward.
"Just slowly at first, down this incline, toward a two-lane highway at the bottom," Hill said. "And I'm looking out the back and I see that there are cars whizzing back and forth."
Hill lunged over the front seat and tried to open one of the doors of their two-door car, but it was too heavy for her, a 4-year-old. She didn't know what to do.
"I distinctly remember praying for God to save me and my sister and brother," she said.
Just then, she saw her dad running out of the donut shop. But running right in front of him was someone else: a young man in his late teens or early 20s.
"This young guy, he runs to the car, he gets the door open. He scoots my brother over and he puts the brake on," Hill said. "It happened so fast ... Even though it seemed like slow motion at the time."
In an instant, the stranger stopped the car from rolling into oncoming traffic and potentially saved their lives. It was an act of courage that would become woven into Hill's family stories for the next 50-some years. To Hill, it became an example of taking the initiative when you see someone in need of help.
"[It] had a huge effect on me for decades. Even now, I just spoke to my sister about it," Hill said.
"He just saw what needed to be done and acted immediately," she said. "That made a huge impression on me for my whole life."
My Unsung Hero is also a podcast — new episodes are released every Tuesday. To share the story of your unsung hero with the Hidden Brain team, record a voice memo on your phone and send it to myunsunghero@hiddenbrain.org.
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