If you have never experienced a tornado siren, count yourself lucky.
After a tornado siren goes off, you may get just a few minutes warning to find a safe shelter and call your loved ones while you’re completely powerless to stop the natural disaster from striking.
Despite usually only having a few minutes warning, one young man chose to use that time to help a stranger in need, fearing that he might not make it through the frightening situation alive.
Now this 16-year-old’s story is being shared around the world.
Gregory Beck, of St. John, Missouri, was out shopping when the tornado sirens sounded.
“Everyone kept telling me the storm is coming and you need to hurry up and get home,” he said. ”They were right to be worried.”
But Gregory had a tougher journey than most due to the fact that he confined to a wheelchair.
Wheeled himself home
He had lost both his legs in the past year, and due to complications from diabetes, was also registered blind.
As the sirens went off, he started wheeling himself home all alone.
Thankfully, big-hearted 16-year-old Seth Phillips and his mom Amber Gilleylen were out shopping when they spotted Gregory.
“He was just all by himself and alone and everybody was just driving by, cussing at him and honking at him and just yelling ignorant things towards him and that wasn’t right,” said Seth.
Seth immediatley asked his mom to pull over.
“This lady and her son were hollering at me like ‘are you okay?’” said Gregory.
“Very lovely lady driving and her son. Just the greatest people and very concerned about other people, which America needs to start doing more of.”
Seth pushed the man a quarter of a mile home
Seth then left the safety of his mom’s car and pushed Gregory to his home in plenty of time.
The quarter-mile trip would have usually taken him 25 minutes with 10 rest stops, but he was home much quicker with help from Seth.
When referred to as the hero that he is, Seth’s only response was, “we live in a world where people would rather fly by and honk at a disabled person than to lend a hand.”
His mom is very proud of her son’s actions. She says, “My hope is that other teenagers will see that it’s the cool thing to do, you know, it’s good to help other people. It doesn’t make you uncool to stop and help someone who needs it.”
Seth Phillips and Gregory Beck have become friends and stay in touch.
See this kind-hearted young man in action in the clip below.
[arve url=”https://youtu.be/GFVQwDjyxYQ” /]
I hope other teenagers see this story and are inspired to do good. Please share to pay tribute to this young man who should be very proud of himself.
