A good Samaritan

Ben Coburn and his son were on their way to Denver last weekend to catch a Broncos game. Ben has been a season ticket holder for many years and they were both excited to be going, even though the weather was less than favorable. Freezing rain, sleet and snow were falling as they left and it didn't get much better as they traveled west but Ben and his boy were pumped about seeing the undefeated Broncos play the mighty New England Patriots so they kept on going.

At the same time, Dewayne Wilson and his family, who live in Parks, were getting ready to go to church in Wray, Colo. As they pulled out on the highway, they were just a few minutes behind Ben and his boy.

The trip took a bad turn when a few miles east of Wray, Ben hit a patch of black ice. We've all been warned about black ice but the warnings don't do much good because you can't see it. One minute you're tooling down the highway and the next minute, you're out of control. That's exactly what happened to Ben. His car turned sideways, went across the highway, hit the ditch and rolled three times. Amazingly, when the car finally stopped on its top, neither Ben nor his son were seriously hurt. In fact, his son could open the passenger side door and both of them were able to climb out. Ben said many people drove by rubber-necking and kept on going but Mr. Wilson didn't. When he saw what had happened, Mr. Wilson stopped his car and got out to make sure everyone was all right.

Ben was a little beaten up with bumps and bruises but other than that, he seemed to be OK. Emergency personnel were summoned and soon arrived on the scene. Although Ben continued to say he was OK, the paramedics insisted that he go to the hospital as a precaution. Mr. Wilson had remained at the scene of the accident and when Ben was transported to the hospital, he took his family on to church and then went to the hospital to check on Ben's condition.

After a thorough examination, Ben was medically cleared by the hospital personnel and was released. Ben's son, being the kid a lot of us wish we still were, thought that since they were OK, they should rent a car and go on to Denver for the game.

Ben told him he had had about all the excitement for one day he could stand and that they were going to come back to McCook. Mr. Wilson, who was still there, told Ben and his boy he would be happy to drive them back home.

Ben protested, telling Mr. Wilson he had already done enough but he insisted. Since Ben and his boy had no other way home, Ben reluctantly agreed.

Mr. Wilson loaded Ben and his boy up in his vehicle, drove back to the church, picked up his family, dropped them off at home and then drove Ben and his boy all the way home. Ben offered to pay him for his troubles but Mr. Wilson would have no part of it.

Ben then offered to at least pay for the gas he used transporting Ben and his son home to McCook and then driving back to Parks but he would have none of that either.

He said he had a whole drum of gas at home and he didn't need any more.

Mr. Wilson wouldn't accept any compensation at all and just as quickly as Ben met him at a most critical time in his life, he was gone.

We're likely not to find many Mr. Wilson's in L.A. or New York or any other major metropolitan area but there seems to be an over-abundance of them in this part of the country.

God Bless you Mr. Wilson.