The phone call came at exactly 6:17 p.m.
I remember because I had just sat down with a cup of tea when my phone rang. A calm but serious voice asked, “Are you Emma Collins’ mother?”
My heart jumped. I said yes.
The person said my daughter had been in a car accident. Another car hit her and drove away. He told me he pulled her out of her car and brought her to the emergency room. He said I needed to come right away.
I dropped my cup. It shattered on the floor, but I didn’t care. I grabbed my keys and drove to the hospital, crying the whole way.
When I arrived, everything felt too bright and loud. A doctor told me Emma was in surgery and her condition was critical. The crash was very serious.
Then I saw a man standing in the hallway. His clothes were dirty, and there was dried blood on his sleeve. He looked tired but calm.
He told me he was driving behind Emma when the crash happened. He saw the other car speed away. He pulled Emma out before the car caught fire.
I almost collapsed. I thanked him, but the words didn’t feel big enough.
He took a red tie from his pocket and handed it to me. It was slightly torn.
“Don’t lose this,” he said. “When she wakes up, tell her she did the right thing. Tell her not to blame herself.”
Before I could ask what he meant, he said his name was Sam and left.
Emma was in surgery for five hours. It felt like forever.
But she survived.
She had broken ribs, a broken leg, and other injuries. She stayed in the hospital for weeks and went through a lot of pain. But she lived.
I kept the red tie with me the whole time.
Weeks later, when Emma finally came home, I showed her the tie.
As soon as she saw it, her face turned pale. Her hands started shaking.
She asked where I got it. I told her a man named Sam gave it to me.
Emma began to cry.
She told me Sam wasn’t a stranger. He worked in the IT department at her company. Earlier that same day, Emma had to fire him because of company cuts. It wasn’t personal, but his name was on the list.
She said he looked very hurt and disappointed when she let him go.
Later that evening, after losing his job, Sam was driving behind her when the crash happened.
Even though he had every reason to be angry, he stopped. He pulled her out of the car and saved her life.
The next day, Emma called him. He had already moved to a new city and found a new job.
She thanked him and apologized.
He simply said he was glad she was alive.
Before ending the call, he told her something we will never forget:
“Life can be hard, but kindness shouldn’t depend on the situation. I just did what anyone should do.”
We never saw Sam again.
But the red tie now hangs framed in our hallway.
Whenever life feels unfair or someone hurts us, we look at that tie.
It reminds us that even in a difficult world, there are still good people.
Kindness is still real.