In life, you don’t need to have everything figured out in order to help someone else. Kindness doesn’t come from a lack of personal challenges; rather, it stems from individuals who, despite their own difficulties, choose not to let those struggles cloud their compassion and understanding of others’ hardships and situations.
A mother in Arizona woke to find she was trapped in the second story of her apartment home as it quickly engulfed in flames.
Claudia Jimenez opened the window and called out to anyone who could hear, needing somehow to find a way to escape while the front door was blocked by the fire.
The first person to arrive at the scene was not a firefighter, but Joe Hollins, who lived in a nearby homeless encampment with his wife.
Hollins told CBS News that all he saw was a lady pulling open the window and screaming for help. Instinctively he swung into action because he knew for sure that time was of utmost importance at this time. He beckoned to Claudia, asking her to lower the children through the window.
The mother of two then had to make a difficult choice. It’s not unusual or prejudicial to be wary of people living on the streets, but for her one-year-old daughter Valerie and eight-year-old Natalie, Hollins may have been their only hope of survival.
Under the window, Hollins called to Jimenez saying that he would catch the children in his arms. She trusted the man, and not only dropped Valerie and Natalie, but the two dogs as well. It took Jimenez herself a while to summon the courage to jump, but she managed it, and Hollins still had the strength to catch her.
As things calmed down, the family thanked Hollins profusely, though the man said that he did what anyone would do in that situation.
“Yes, anyone would. Those were children,” he said
Jimenez expressed her immense gratitude towards Joe Hollins, stating that she would forever be thankful to him. She reiterated that to her, Hollins was an angel, and because of him, they were alive and safe. Jimenez emphasized that her daughters were also safe thanks to Hollins’ actions.
When it has to do with kindness and saving a life – Act now, let the details come later.