Lakewood mother grateful after stranger witnesses near tragedy & steps in to help
DALLAS (CBSNewsTexas.com) — Jenny Pearson was driving her daughter to camp Sunday when a near tragedy struck.
"All of a sudden, the sedan in front of us just swerved really sharply, and in doing so, they actually clipped part of a tire tread that had been just lying on the road," Pearson said.
That tire tread flew right through her windshield. "It was very alarming. Obviously very unexpected."
Shaken and cut but otherwise unharmed, Pearson and her 13-year-old daughter took the nearest exit. She was about to call a tow truck, but it just so happened that one of the people driving by owns a windshield repair company.
"We could just tell the woman was very distraught," said Caleb Smalling, who opened Big Boys Auto Glass in Canton. "So I said, 'Well, let's pull over here and check on them and make sure they're OK at least.'"
Smalling, who was with his wife and son, coincidentally had the exact windshield Pearson needed at his nearby home. So they left and returned with it, as well as drinks and Band-Aids.
"When I asked how he preferred to get paid—if it was through Venmo or any of the apps—he said, 'You know, I've just been thinking while I've been working on this and just kind of talking to God,'" Pearson shared. "And he's like, 'You don't owe me anything.'"
Smalling said something was telling his family that they needed to help her.
And so together they cleaned the glass out of Pearson's front seat, sending her back on the road with a new windshield and some new faith in humanity.
"For me, it was just affirming that there are good people out there, and I just don't think we hear that and see that enough," Pearson said. She also wants people to know that, even though Smalling's company is based in Canton, he makes calls to DFW.