Belinda Smith is an Uber driver in St. Petersburg, Florida. Recently, she picked up a fare named Nikki, a woman she could tell was just not having the best of days. And Nikki started telling Belinda about her young baby, John.
John was at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital being treated for a rare, life-threatening birth defect, one that affects only about 1 in 4,000 babies. He was born with a hole in his diaphragm, which can cause other organs to go into the chest cavity. She told Belinda that she wanted to buy her son some clothes while he was in the hospital.
Says Belinda: “She needed to talk and I was there to listen. People don’t listen anymore. I believe people get in my car for a reason other than a ride… She was in tears a couple of times and I really felt for her.”
Belinda dropped Nikki off at a clothing consignment shop and they said their goodbyes. But Nikki’s story was really getting to Belinda. So she found a spot to park her car, turned off her Uber and went into the shop.
When she found Nikki, she told her: “This is a day that should be fun for you. And you shouldn’t be alone. Let’s shop.”
And shop they did. When they were finished, Nikki had picked out 30 items of clothing for her young son. But Belinda had a little surprise for her. She paid for all of those clothes. And Nikki just broke down and cried. It was a wonderful, kind gesture on the part of this woman she had just met a short time earlier.
Says Nikki: “For this stranger to go completely out of her way — stop what she was doing and stop making money — to come be with me for a couple of hours while we shopped together, that was just incredible. She is my hero.”
A short time later, Belinda visited the little boy she bought clothes for, and she and Nikki are now good friends.
