JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
Time now for "My Unsung Hero," our series from the team at the Hidden Brain podcast. "My Unsung Hero" tells the stories of people whose kindness left a lasting impression on someone else. Today's story comes from Julie Labes. About 25 years ago, Julie was scheduled to have her gallbladder removed, but a few days before the procedure, she began having stomach pain that she couldn't ignore. When she called her doctor, he told her to go straight to the emergency room.
JULIE LABES: We got to the ER. We checked in, gave them all the information, and the receptionist said, someone will be with you soon. So, you know, we sat and we waited and waited, and the pain was getting worse and worse. My husband went up again and said, you know, how much longer? Same answer - somebody will be with you soon. And then we waited a little bit more, and I couldn't sit. I had to stand up. And at one point, I remember I was standing with my - leaning against the wall, with my hands up against the wall, and my whole body was shaking, and the pain was horrendous. I've never experienced pain like that before my entire life.
There was another lady in the same ER waiting to go in too. She was there with her mom who she told us was having trouble breathing. Anyway, she watched me for a couple of seconds, and then she got up and she walked over to the glass, and she banged on the glass very loud. And the reception came in and she said, listen to me, I'm a nurse. This woman is going into shock. You need to get her in there right now. So they checked me into the hospital right away. That night, they did remove my gall bladder in surgery. And the next day, my GP came to see me, and he was upset with me because he said, why did you wait so long? And I had said, well, you told me I'd have some pain. He said, some pain, Julie, you must've been in agony because we removed your gallbladder, and it was gangrenous. And he said, I'm pretty sure another hour you would've been dead.
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LABES: And that's when I realized that the lady who had banged on the glass had saved my life.
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LABES: I'm still here 25 years later. I brought up my kids and had a good life. I'm just sad that I never got to see her. I never got to thank her. She's my unsung hero.
SUMMERS: Julie Labes lives in Royal Palm Beach, Florida. You can find more stories of unsung heroes and learn how to submit your own at hiddenbrain.org. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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