1 00:00:04,160 --> 00:00:09,000 Speaker 1: Hello, friends, Welcome to Story Behind podcast. This is the 2 00:00:09,039 --> 00:00:12,200 Speaker 1: show for people who love hearing a good story and 3 00:00:12,240 --> 00:00:15,720 Speaker 1: who believe the world could use more positivity. We're the 4 00:00:15,720 --> 00:00:18,919 Speaker 1: team behind God Updates and God Too, and we hope 5 00:00:18,960 --> 00:00:21,560 Speaker 1: these weekly short stories will brighten your day. 6 00:00:27,120 --> 00:00:30,240 Speaker 2: Woman dies a hero after shielding grandson from oncoming car. 7 00:00:30,720 --> 00:00:32,800 Speaker 2: Ridden may have the regal men read by Jully Provos. 8 00:00:34,080 --> 00:00:36,599 Speaker 2: A woman dies a hero after shielding her grandson from 9 00:00:36,640 --> 00:00:39,320 Speaker 2: an oncoming car. These are the kinds of stories that 10 00:00:39,360 --> 00:00:42,320 Speaker 2: will forever mark a family, as when a grandmother saves 11 00:00:42,320 --> 00:00:45,279 Speaker 2: her grandson. Some love is quiet and ordinary, wrapped up 12 00:00:45,280 --> 00:00:48,720 Speaker 2: in everyday moments, holding little hands, laughter in the driveway, 13 00:00:48,720 --> 00:00:51,720 Speaker 2: the simple joy of being together. And then sometimes love 14 00:00:51,840 --> 00:00:56,680 Speaker 2: becomes something else, entirely, something fears, something sacrificial, kind of 15 00:00:56,680 --> 00:00:59,720 Speaker 2: love that most faster than fear and chooses another life 16 00:00:59,720 --> 00:01:03,720 Speaker 2: over zone. In Circleville, Ohio, that kind of love belonged 17 00:01:03,720 --> 00:01:06,399 Speaker 2: to a grandmother named Laura Hammond, who was in ordinary morning, 18 00:01:06,400 --> 00:01:09,119 Speaker 2: the kind of morning that begins like any other family, 19 00:01:09,200 --> 00:01:13,039 Speaker 2: visiting child nearby, the comfort of being together. Laura fifty 20 00:01:13,040 --> 00:01:15,240 Speaker 2: two had stopped by her mother's home and was outside 21 00:01:15,280 --> 00:01:18,600 Speaker 2: with her daughter and young grandson, and suddenly the unthinkable happened. 22 00:01:18,840 --> 00:01:22,560 Speaker 2: Car veered off Walnut Creek Pike, leaving the roadway and 23 00:01:22,600 --> 00:01:26,280 Speaker 2: tearing through two residential yards before crashing into the driveway 24 00:01:26,360 --> 00:01:29,560 Speaker 2: where the family stood in the space between one heartbeat 25 00:01:29,600 --> 00:01:32,160 Speaker 2: and the next. Laura saw what was coming, and like 26 00:01:32,240 --> 00:01:34,800 Speaker 2: so many grandmothers who would move heaven and earth for 27 00:01:34,840 --> 00:01:38,160 Speaker 2: their grandchildren, she didn't hesitate. She scooped up her grandson 28 00:01:38,200 --> 00:01:40,400 Speaker 2: and threw him out of the path of the oncoming vehicle. 29 00:01:40,880 --> 00:01:43,640 Speaker 2: Her grandson lived. Laura did not authority say she took 30 00:01:43,680 --> 00:01:46,280 Speaker 2: the full impact of the car, pinned between the crashing 31 00:01:46,319 --> 00:01:48,880 Speaker 2: vehicle and a parked SUV. She was rushed to the 32 00:01:48,920 --> 00:01:52,280 Speaker 2: hospital but later died from her injuries. Her grandson suffered 33 00:01:52,280 --> 00:01:55,920 Speaker 2: only minor injuries. Laura Hammond is a hero, an absolute hero. 34 00:01:56,240 --> 00:02:00,840 Speaker 2: Pickaway County Sheriff's Office Captain John Starberr said she risked 35 00:02:00,840 --> 00:02:03,000 Speaker 2: her life and this situation took her life to save 36 00:02:03,040 --> 00:02:06,800 Speaker 2: her grandson. But perhaps the most powerful truth is the 37 00:02:06,840 --> 00:02:09,840 Speaker 2: one every mother and grandmother already knows deep in her bones. 38 00:02:10,400 --> 00:02:13,360 Speaker 2: Laura didn't think of herself as a hero. She was 39 00:02:13,400 --> 00:02:16,560 Speaker 2: simply doing what love does. Love protects, love covers, love 40 00:02:16,639 --> 00:02:19,280 Speaker 2: steps in the way. In a single moment, Laura became 41 00:02:19,320 --> 00:02:23,320 Speaker 2: the shield between danger and the child she adored. Investigators 42 00:02:23,320 --> 00:02:26,160 Speaker 2: say the driver told officers his phone was ringing just 43 00:02:26,200 --> 00:02:28,959 Speaker 2: before the crash, and he looked down. Thorities are still 44 00:02:28,960 --> 00:02:32,800 Speaker 2: determining whether other factors were involved. But for Laura's family, 45 00:02:32,840 --> 00:02:35,120 Speaker 2: the details of the crash will never define her story. 46 00:02:35,680 --> 00:02:38,640 Speaker 2: Her love will. She leaves behind a husband, three children, 47 00:02:38,680 --> 00:02:40,720 Speaker 2: and two grandchildren who will grow up hearing about the 48 00:02:40,760 --> 00:02:43,240 Speaker 2: grandmother who loved them with the bravery that still it 49 00:02:43,280 --> 00:02:47,000 Speaker 2: goes through their family's story, and somewhere in heaven, perhaps 50 00:02:47,080 --> 00:02:49,800 Speaker 2: Laura is still watching over the boy whose life she saved. 51 00:02:50,040 --> 00:02:52,320 Speaker 2: Her final act of love written not in words, but 52 00:02:52,360 --> 00:02:55,560 Speaker 2: in sacrifice, because sometimes the truest kind of hero doesn't 53 00:02:55,600 --> 00:02:58,440 Speaker 2: wear a badge or a cape. Sometimes she's simply a 54 00:02:58,440 --> 00:03:01,639 Speaker 2: grandmother standing in a driver, loving a child more than 55 00:03:01,639 --> 00:03:04,120 Speaker 2: her own life. Greater love has no one than this, 56 00:03:04,280 --> 00:03:07,720 Speaker 2: to lay down one's life for one's friends. John fifteen thirteen. 57 00:03:21,280 --> 00:03:24,239 Speaker 2: Mom is overcome as her entire family signs Happy Birthday 58 00:03:24,280 --> 00:03:27,040 Speaker 2: to her deaf son. Written by Heather Rickomann read by 59 00:03:27,080 --> 00:03:30,480 Speaker 2: Duly Provost. A mom is overcome as her entire family 60 00:03:30,600 --> 00:03:33,640 Speaker 2: signs Happy Birthday to her deaf son. Sometimes love learns 61 00:03:33,639 --> 00:03:37,040 Speaker 2: a new language. Sometimes families learn asl For Kelsei Boo 62 00:03:37,080 --> 00:03:39,640 Speaker 2: and her son, Boston's first birthday wasn't just about cake 63 00:03:39,680 --> 00:03:41,920 Speaker 2: and candles. It was about a room full of people 64 00:03:41,960 --> 00:03:44,040 Speaker 2: choosing to meet a little boy exactly where he is. 65 00:03:44,960 --> 00:03:47,920 Speaker 2: Boston was born with the Coffinseers syndrome, a rare condition 66 00:03:47,960 --> 00:03:50,640 Speaker 2: that left him completely deaf in both ears and introduced 67 00:03:50,680 --> 00:03:54,559 Speaker 2: his family to a world of medical complexities they never experienced. 68 00:03:54,920 --> 00:03:57,160 Speaker 2: His earliest days were spent in aniku instead of the 69 00:03:57,200 --> 00:04:00,520 Speaker 2: quiet comfort of home, surrounded by machines and uncertainty. But 70 00:04:00,640 --> 00:04:04,880 Speaker 2: even there, something beautiful began unfolding around them, a community 71 00:04:04,920 --> 00:04:07,640 Speaker 2: that refused to let them walk the road alone. Meil 72 00:04:07,680 --> 00:04:10,839 Speaker 2: showed up at the hospital, Prayers were whispered over their son. 73 00:04:11,120 --> 00:04:14,240 Speaker 2: Encouragement came in quiet text messages and gentle hugs, and 74 00:04:14,280 --> 00:04:16,840 Speaker 2: somewhere along the way, their family and friends began learning 75 00:04:16,880 --> 00:04:20,159 Speaker 2: something new, American Sign language, so Boston would always know 76 00:04:20,279 --> 00:04:23,200 Speaker 2: he belonged. So when Boston sat in his highchair on 77 00:04:23,240 --> 00:04:25,800 Speaker 2: his first birthday, tiny fingers tapping the tray while his 78 00:04:25,880 --> 00:04:28,640 Speaker 2: dad held the cake. Kelsey thought she knew what would 79 00:04:28,640 --> 00:04:30,839 Speaker 2: happen next. She had planned to teach the guests how 80 00:04:30,880 --> 00:04:33,159 Speaker 2: to sign Happy Birthday. What she did know was that 81 00:04:33,160 --> 00:04:36,680 Speaker 2: her village had already been practicing quietly, faithfully, because loving 82 00:04:36,720 --> 00:04:38,719 Speaker 2: this little boy meant learning how to speak to his heart. 83 00:04:39,279 --> 00:04:41,400 Speaker 2: And then it happened. The room was not filled with 84 00:04:41,440 --> 00:04:44,520 Speaker 2: singing voices, but with moving hands. One by one, family 85 00:04:44,560 --> 00:04:47,520 Speaker 2: and friends lifted their hands and signed Happy Birthday together, 86 00:04:47,880 --> 00:04:51,200 Speaker 2: a room full of people choosing connection over convenience, choosing 87 00:04:51,240 --> 00:04:54,880 Speaker 2: effort over ease, choosing love in its most invisible form. 88 00:04:55,279 --> 00:04:57,960 Speaker 2: Kelsey watched the moment unfold, overcome by the kind of 89 00:04:58,000 --> 00:05:01,559 Speaker 2: gratitude that leaves your chest height your eyes fool, because 90 00:05:01,600 --> 00:05:03,839 Speaker 2: sometimes the most sacred memories are the ones where you 91 00:05:03,880 --> 00:05:07,240 Speaker 2: realize just how deeply your surrounded. Boston may not hear 92 00:05:07,240 --> 00:05:09,520 Speaker 2: the song, but he will grow up knowing something even 93 00:05:09,560 --> 00:05:12,679 Speaker 2: more powerful. He is deeply loved by a family willing 94 00:05:12,680 --> 00:05:15,839 Speaker 2: to learn a new language just to say it. But 95 00:05:15,960 --> 00:05:18,640 Speaker 2: all that you do be done in love. One Corinthians 96 00:05:18,640 --> 00:05:19,680 Speaker 2: sixteen fourteen. 97 00:05:28,080 --> 00:05:31,240 Speaker 1: Thank you so much for listening to Story Behind podcast. 98 00:05:31,720 --> 00:05:34,040 Speaker 1: We're really glad you joined us for this week's story. 99 00:05:34,800 --> 00:05:37,240 Speaker 1: To see photos and videos that may have been referenced 100 00:05:37,279 --> 00:05:40,120 Speaker 1: in this episode, check out the links and the show notes. 101 00:05:40,640 --> 00:05:43,599 Speaker 1: And if you enjoyed what you heard today, subscribe to 102 00:05:43,640 --> 00:05:47,200 Speaker 1: our podcast and please tell a friend about us. We'd 103 00:05:47,200 --> 00:05:49,240 Speaker 1: also love it if you'd rate us and leave us 104 00:05:49,240 --> 00:05:52,200 Speaker 1: a review. It really does help more people find us. 105 00:05:52,800 --> 00:05:55,440 Speaker 1: Story Behind is a Salem Web Network production.