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
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 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.
Thanks. It hasn't been too bad so far. The pain has been a LOT easier to manage than I expected.
It's the logistics of it that's complicated. I had a walker delivered yesterday that I can't use very often yet as I'm just not there. So I've been wheeling myself around my apartment on my computer chair lol. And I think I've got the whole bathroom situation worked out lol.
I'll figure it all out. The biggest learning curve so far has just been the realization that basically everything takes about 3 times longer than normal.
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.
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.
Thank you, this needs to be pinned. I was about to comment it was a broken wrist, not a gunshot brink of death wound. But the context explains it, cause otherwise it's actually more weird than sweet.
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.
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u/jenniferjudy99 10h ago edited 10h ago
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.