Hidden Brain - My Unsung Hero: Leah Bartell's Story

Episode Date: December 11, 2021

It's 1994, and two men corner Leah on a dark street as she's walking home. Then she sees a car, and a glimmer of hope.To hear more stories like this, subscribe to our new podcast, My Unsung Hero. And we'd love to hear your own story: send a voice memo to [e-mail].

From Hidden Brain Media, I'm Shankar Vedanta. This is My Unsung Hero. Stories where one person reached out to help another in a time of need. This story is about two unsung heroes. I don't even know if it was a man or a woman. Someone I will probably never know. My eighth grade English teacher, my unsung hero. Today's story comes from Liyabata.

It was 1994, and I was 20 years old. I had stayed for the summer at my college campus in Connecticut just to work in the library and earn some money. And a few of my friends had stayed as well. So one night I was over at a friend's house and decided to walk home. It was about 2.30 in the morning and I had to walk quite a distance from one end of the campus to the other. I was walking down a very dark street, and two men approached me. They were both really tall, and I'm about five feet tall and small.

And they were clearly drunk. One of them was standing in front of me and the other one was standing behind me. And I didn't know what to do. I didn't know what was going to happen, but I knew it was going to be bad. And all of a sudden, a car pulled over and two people got out of the car, a man and a woman, and the man asked me, are you okay? And I said no. And he immediately engaged with the two men to try to get them away from me.

And I don't know what happened next because I just ran. I was so terrified I ran straight to my house and locked the doors. I don't know what happened that night but I do know that those two people saved me from a horrible fate. And I am so grateful to them and they are my unsung heroes. If I could say anything to them, I would say thank you for noticing what so many people would have driven past and for speaking up at a moment when you didn't have to. didn't have to. Leah Bartell of Wilburne, Massachusetts. Her major in college was music and she went

on to become a professional violinist. Today, she's a performer and an educator. Leah tells us, I hope my story inspires someone to step into help a stranger in need, or simply to ask the question, are you okay? If you'd like to share the story of an unsung hero who made a difference in your life, it's easy to do. Go to myunsunghero.org, where we have information about how to record and send your story to us. If you enjoy these stories, please be sure to share this podcast with a friend. What if math recommendations really make a difference? I'm Shankar Vedanthanam. See you soon.

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