Hidden Brain - My Unsung Hero: Rick Mangnall's Story

Episode Date: October 22, 2021

Today we're sharing another episode of our new podcast, My Unsung Hero. Subscribe, and enjoy! In 2008, while driving to work, Rick Mangnall crashes into a slab of granite rock. He's hanging upside down in his seatbelt when he sees an old Ford truck pull over across the road.

Hi there, Shankar here. Today we are sharing another episode of our new podcast, My Unsung Hero. Many of these stories have moved me to tears, and I think you'll be touched by them too. We'll be dropping stories from that show into the Hidden Brain Podcast feed from time to time, but the stories will appear in the My Unsung Hero feed first, and we'll also have lots of stories in that feed that will not show up here. So please head over to Mayansang Hero to subscribe and make sure you don't miss an episode.

From Hidden Brain Media, I'm Shankar Vedantam. This is Mayansang Hero. Hello, Mayansung hero is... I wanted to share my story about an unsung hero. My unsung hero is the man in the Panama hat on the flight to Boston. Is the plane you're touched down, why don't I? I can't even express to you how much you've changed my life. Today's story comes from Rick Magnum. In the summer of 2008, Rick was making the long commute from his home in the remote

mountains of 3 Rivers, California, to his job at a community college in the town of Viselia. At the time he was living in a travel trailer which was often invaded by the abundant wildlife in the area. He would find bats in his curtains, rattlesnakes under his trailer, and bears at his window. But the one that is most problematic for me, the scorpions, and they get into everything. They get into cabinets somehow. They get into a drawer with your clothes. And the only way to stop it is to smash them.

That particular day, I got up, put my clothes on, got in the car, and started driving. The drive took him down a road. There was flanked on both sides by large slabs of granite rock. All of a sudden, a scorpion that had somehow gotten into his clothes crawled out and stung him on the back. When he tried to smash it, he accidentally yanked the steering wheel down and to the right. And when I looked up, I was looking right at a sheer granite embankment. And I hit that rock wall and I still recall the sensation of my on-to-sivic going airborne. And I can feel it now, feeling the car flip in the air, just feeling being upside down

in my seatbelt. And 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 because 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 of words of English. And he put his hand on my shoulder. And I tried to tell him he could go. Riquoried that the two men were undocumented. So I thought he probably should get out of there because I'd called 911 and highway patrol would be coming and could get a question or picked up. I had no idea what would happen. So I tried to reassure him that I was okay, but he would have none of it. He just stood with me and 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. I wish I had thanked him. Yeah, I wish I had thanked him. Rick Magnum of Dexter Oregon. To share your story about an unsung hero who helped you in a moment of crisis, go to

myunsunghero.org for instructions on how to record and send us your story. I'm Shankar Vedantan. See you soon. you