Everyone needs help at one point or another, but there are times when we find ourselves in uncomfortable or even dangerous situations without friends, family, or someone you trust nearby. So, when people across the BuzzFeed Community began sharing the following stories about times when absolute strangers stepped in to help women and girls in need, my heart grew three times larger.
1. "I was an 18-year-old newly-out lesbian with a fake ID, visiting a friend in another city who was the same. As you did in those days, we went to the local gay bar for the evening. At the end of the evening, as we were going outside to go home, a bunch of twentysomething young men started harassing us and yelling slurs and indicating that they could 'cure us.'"
"We were so scared we didn't know what to do, when suddenly two men — obviously a couple — came out of the bar and ran up to us. Each one took one of us by the arm, and started loudly acting as if they were our dates. They walked us to our car, acting as if we were all going home together, and the young men went off somewhere. I still think about how close we were to being assaulted, and 45 years later, still think about that couple and how thankful I am for them."
—Anonymous
2. "This is such a small thing, but it always reminds me of the kindness of strangers. A couple years ago, I was exploring Istanbul and walked into something on my way to the tram. While on the platform waiting, I noticed blood running down my leg, so I was just holding my skirt up out of the way. I noticed a couple of men on the sidewalk on the other side of the tracks waving their arms, and I realized they were trying to get my attention. One of them was waving a sanitizing wipe."
"They had noticed my leg and tossed it to me to clean up. I yelled thank you, and they kept on walking. Then another guy from down the platform came over to me. He had noticed the exchange and saw my bleeding leg as well. He dug into his backpack and found a couple bandages for me. Then, he, too, just went on his way. It really touched me that these men all made the effort to help out a stranger even with a little problem like a cut. Any time I feel down on the world, I think about that moment and remember the goodness of people."
3. "While in high school, my best friend and I were driving to Daytona Beach, Florida. Along the way, my car broke down on a dark, isolated stretch of highway. Soon a car with several men pulled up. They kept offering my best friend beer after beer while attempting to fix my car. I had become very uneasy after I noticed the men were really getting my friend drunk and were circling my car while staring at me. The guys said filthy things to me, and my friend was plastered on beer. I knew I was in serious danger."
"Then I heard a loud rumbling almost like thunder. It kept getting closer and closer. Soon I realized it was a large motorcycle gang passing us. They quickly came back to where I was broke down. These were the typical motorcycle gang riders you saw in movies. Wearing leather, big scary looking men. In reality, they were my guardian angels. They made the guys that were there get in their car and leave. They promptly fixed my car and helped my drunk best friend into the car. Then poof, they were gone. I never even got to say thank you. Thank you guys, I’ll never forget what you did for us."
—Anonymous