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Editor's note: Anonymous Thank Yous is a website that allows people to submit notes of gratitude to strangers who anonymously gave service. Michael McCarlie, its founder, contributes every other Wednesday. SALT LAKE CITY — Robert wrote to anonymousthankyous.com about a time someone came to wake him up. That small act of kindness may have saved his life. This is what he wrote:
"I placed a classified ad on KSL.com to sell off some gaming tables I no longer needed. Someone from Logan contacted me and wanted to purchase one of the tables. We agreed to meet in Farmington since I lived in Salt Lake City.
"I had the flu and felt cold/chills because of a high fever. It was wintertime, so I put on a shirt, a light flannel jacket, a heavy thermal-lined hooded jacket and a fleece lined trench coat and hopped in my car. All I could think about as I drove to Farmington was how cold I was. I was absolutely freezing. So I turn on the heater in my car and set it as high as it would go to 90 degrees.
"Though I felt cold, my body temperature was rising. At 103 degrees, your body will begin to shut down and hyperthermia sets in, which can be deadly. My body temperature continued to rise, and I began to feel strange, while driving 70-75 mph on the freeway. While trying to figure out what was happening to me, I told myself that I need to get off the road and do it quickly. The next exit wasn't for another mile or so. I slowed down, dodged traffic and swerved over a couple of lanes to get into the right shoulder as quickly as I could.
"Before the car could stop, I lost consciousness due to the lack of my body’s internal thermoregulation as heatstroke began. This happened within 30 seconds of feeling strange. The environment inside my car, along with the clothing I was wearing, caused a rapid increase of my internal temperature, and my body could not keep up with trying to cool itself. Fortunately, my car had drifted off the freeway and down the snow covered embankment instead of back out into traffic. The car had come to a rest in a ditch, but the car was still in drive blasting 90-degree heat. My body temperature continued to rise with no one around to turn off the heat.
"If nobody stopped, I could have died. However, an older gentleman stopped and made his way 50 feet or so from the freeway shoulder down the snow covered embankment to my car. He could obviously see that I was unconscious and my car doors were locked. I'm sure he didn't know what was going on and probably assumed that I had fallen asleep at the wheel, driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol, or something so he simply knocked on the window. I am not sure how many times or how long he was there but it was enough for me to regain consciousness. I remember fighting with myself subconsciously trying to tell my body to function again.
"Within a few minutes my vision restored. I saw through the windshield tree branches and the chain link fence that I had nearly hit. I looked over to see this older man standing in the cold. I rolled down the window, and he noticed the incredible amount of heat that was coming out of the car. He knew at that point what had happened. He had already called 911 and highway patrol and an ambulance had arrived shortly after and then he drove away. Not very many people will take the time to stop and check on someone. I wish I could thank him in person, but I have no idea who he is or where he is. Thank you for stopping. I am incredibly grateful that you did. Thank you."
Anonymous Thank Yous: Have you ever wanted to say thank you for something a stranger did? Tell us your story at anonymousthankyous.com or follow along at Facebook and Twitter.
