Stranger helps stranded Irving nurse get to work: ‘This man literally handed me the keys to his Prius’

IRVING, Texas - During the outbreak, nurses are working long hours and caring for the sick. But sometimes, they need help too.

For one Irving nurse, the helping hand she needed came from a stranger with a Prius.

Kyrie Anderson admits she’s not good at accepting help and much less from a stranger offering his car. 

“My normal routine: Wake up. Work out. Get ready. Go,” she said.

The 31-year-old was picking up an extra shift at Baylor Scott and White - Fort Worth Friday morning. But her Lincoln MKC parked in her apartment parking garage showing no signs of life. The battery was dead.

Anderson, a TCU grad and traveling nurse who’d just started her new job two months ago, desperately needed to get to the hospital.

“A black truck came around, so I just kind of waved at him,” she said. “And he rolled down his window part of the way and asked if he could help me.”

Anderson says the man was with his wife and offered to drive her to work. But she declined because she felt bad about the 70-mile round trip. 

“He was quiet for a little bit,” she recalled. “And then he said, ‘I know this sounds really strange, but I’ve been quarantining at home with my wife for the last week or so, and we literally have nothing to do. And we currently have a Prius that we aren’t currently using. So would you like to drive our Prius to work?’”

Anderson, who’d already called roadside assistance, knew the wait would be too long and reluctantly accepted.

“I was just like I’m standing here with this man’s car keys in my hand, but I don’t know his name or his phone number. I don’t know anything,” Anderson said. “That’s when my eyes teared up.”

 The stranger not only lent her the car, but waited for roadside assistance while she left for work. He then took her car to the mechanic and filled her gas tank. 

Anderson posted about the experience on Facebook so others, especially her fellow nurses, would know how much they’re trusted and appreciated. 

 “He just recognized that me getting to work would help other people,” she said. “It was a pure act of kindness from a complete stranger I’ve never seen in my life and haven’t seen again since that day.”