Nineteen-year-old line cook Juan Mendoza figured he was heading to drop his girlfriend off at class, not into a rescue scene. Driving with his girlfriend on a wet afternoon in southern Texas, Mendoza watched a car spin out after a collision and come to rest in the middle of the highway. Thinking of his younger siblings and the possibility that children might be inside, he pulled over, ran toward the smoking vehicle, and began clearing debris to reach the occupants, CBS News reports.
Inside were Juan and Adriana O'Matta, an elderly couple returning from a medical appointment when their car was hit and sent careening into traffic. "Nobody stopped," said Juan O'Matta, who turns 80 this month. "He was the only one who stopped." Adriana would later call Mendoza her "angel." Videos of the incident show the Texas Roadhouse cook sprinting into the roadway and helping pull the couple from the damaged car. The O'Mattas survived but never caught the name of the stranger who had intervened. They set out to find him, and CBS News contributor David Begnaud helped track Mendoza down and arrange a televised reunion at the Texas Roadhouse where he works.
There, amid handshakes and thanks, the story took another turn: Justin Back, president of Acadian Ambulance Service, attended the gathering and offered Mendoza a full scholarship to train as an emergency medical technician, plus a job offer contingent on his completing the program. Begnaud had found out from Mendoza that he dreamed of becoming a nurse, but couldn't afford the schooling, reports myRGV.com, which also reports Mendoza has already started the training program. Weslaco Mayor Adrian Gonzalez also stepped forward with a city proclamation, declaring an official "Juan Mendoza Day"—but Mendoza says he was just doing what his parents raised him to do.
,
uBlock 
,
and
Ghostery 
)
