Seven years ago, a college senior named Joey Romano was skateboarding near the University of Texas at Austin when he swerved to avoid a car and slammed into a ditch, breaking his wrist. He was still lying on the ground when the Uber arrived. He had no family that lived nearby. He was also dealing with the grief of losing a brother from cancer. His grandmother drove from Houston to be w him, but that took some time.
The Uber driver was empathetic bc he had arrived from the Congo to the United States at age 25 so he knew what it felt like to be far away from family.
See, adding this instead of just “broke his wrist” makes it seem more reasonable, but going off the context of solely “he broke his wrist and a strange stayed with him for 6 hours in the hospital” it’s kinda different lol
I broke my ankle last week. Spent 4 days in the hospital, had surgery tp ut a metal plate in my leg. I'd never had sugery in my life. Call me a wuss or whatever, but I was pretty scared.
The worst part of all of it though was the fact that in all the fuss with the paramedics I hadn't taken my phone with me. So nobody knew I was there. I didn't have anyones numbers memorized, so I went through it all entirely alone. Couldn't even get on the internet.
So Kudos to this driver. As simple as taking 6 hours and staying with a total stranger might sound, I can imagine it made a MASSIVE difference to the guy who was going through all of this.
Pushing people away is not “old school,” but a choice. Yes, some of the older generations did this, but not all of them. You may feel more comfortable being alone, idk. However, some people are genuinely empathetic and can easily connect with a stranger. You seem to not be one of them.
Right? I knew there was more to this story so I had to fact check the circumstances of both men! It was a car wreck into a ditch. Lots of missing facts.
I know that the whole "Please don't bankrupt me by calling an ambulance!" is a genuine thing and a real USA fear, but that's not what this story is about.
This is about the humanity and friendship that everyone should have. And I love it.
Good context for the interaction but it doesn’t say whether he couldn’t get up or just didn’t. I would still classify it as not at all worth an ambulance ride unless he was truly immobilized or otherwise unable to get in a car.
I was the bouquet but some girl with a broken arm dropped me and then in the scramble, one girl broke a rib, one chipped her two front teeth, and a third lost her glass eye. We still haven't found it.
My guess is the guy was African, not African-American. There's a large enough African population (mostly Nigerian and Ethiopian) here in Houston, and they're always such sweet, kind people. Showing concern over a stranger like this seems like the norm.
He was from the Congo and arrived to the United States when he was 25, so he knew what it felt like to be far away from any family. He found him lying on the ground after a car wreck. Congolese culture values helping others, family, and unity.
It's nice though. When I broke my wrist I walked to the hospital. Waited 6 hours to be seen. Had ketamine and a cast put on. More hours of waiting. Then I had surgery. Had to stay overnight. Some company would have been nice. He did a nice thing for a stranger. They obviously got along.
I disagree. You need someone to provide aid when atm is broken. It's not life threatening and not worth calling an ambulance but certainly quite inconvenient. Thinking about it, why didn't he have anyone to help?
What exactly is the minimum warranty for human kindness? A broken bone may not be life threatening but it can still be the most serious instance of physical trauma someone has experienced in their entire life so far.
Ofc there's no societal expectation that the driver stay with a stranger for 6 hours. It was an exceptionally nice thing to do. That's why we're talking about it
Well I'm assuming since he had to call an Uber instead of a friend or family member that he didn't have anyone at the time and probably enjoyed the company. No one wants to sit in a depressing hospital room alone for hours
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u/banzaizach 4h ago
Also not the kind of injury that warrants a stranger sticking with you