"Guardian angel" drives strangers in need, asks for nothing in return
An internet post that brought together strangers is reminding people of how much good there is in the world.
Lyn Story is a retiree in Fort Worth, Texas. The 64-year-old had a lot of free time on her hands until she met Apryl Goodwin, 46, who had been diagnosed with uterine cancer.
"I had no transportation and I didn't know what to do," Goodwin said. She found help on the community app Nextdoor.
"Someone spoke up and said, 'I'll take you to your appointments,' and I kind of ignored it cause it's a stranger. What do you do? So she messaged me again and said, 'I'll take you. I mean it. I'm honest. I, you know, I'm sincere.'"
That stranger was Story, and over the last year, she has taken Goodwin to more than 25 radiation appointments, six chemotherapy treatments and countless doctor visits.
"One time her car broke down and she goes and flags down somebody in the middle of traffic to get me to my chemo," Goodwin said.
Story's kindness doesn't stop there. Months after meeting Goodwin, she was on the Nextdoor app again when she noticed a post from Kevin Horrigan, who is legally blind.
"Lyn's like a little angel," said Horrigan. "She really is, because I can't drive."
Hard times drove Horrigan out of retirement. Now Story lessens his burdens.
"Lyn drives me to work or she picks me up from work. It helps tremendously, very big help," he said.
Story said she started thinking of herself as a "bad weather friend."
"You know, fair weather friends are only there when everything's good for you," she said. "But a bad weather friend is there to help you in times of need."
They were strangers just a year ago and have now developed a life-changing friendship.
"The best way for me to feel good is to help other people feel good, just to make it easier for them," Story said.
For Story, it's her history that helped shape who she is today: She was arrested for shoplifting 45 years ago.
"I learned to stop it, to be better. I went into therapy and kind of got a feel for why I felt the need to, for the high, for shoplifting and that helped. And then many years later I was finally diagnosed as bipolar. And that helped because I got on medication to make me even instead of the highs and the lows. And so that's made a big difference," she said.
Determined to be better, Story was 31 when she donated her healthy bone marrow to a critically ill patient she didn't even know. So, it should come as no surprise that when she was recently asked to foster a dog named Sully who is disabled with three legs, she was eager to sign up.
Filled with love, Story's own story is life changing for so many.
"She's my guardian angel," Goodwin said.
