Oakland Hero Receives Random Act of Kindness

Doing the right thing, no matter how scary and self-sacrificing it might be, is almost always rewarded in ways we can hardly imagine.

Oakland resident Andrew Pumphrey has learned that in a dramatic way after he broke his back in five places while saving his two-year-old niece when both fell off the stairs outside his sister's apartment and dropped 36 feet to the ground 13 months ago. According to KTVU in the Bay Area, Pumphrey fell on his back and absorbed the impact of the fall while his niece, Rory, was cushioned by his chest.

The firefighters who came to his rescue did much more than get him to the hospital. They formed a bond with Pumphrey that remains to this day. Impressed with his heroic deed, the firefighters dipped in to their Random Acts of Kindness fund to assist Pumphrey when he needed it most. A group of Oakland firefighters founded the non-profit nine years ago to assist the people they serve, and few are as deserving as Pumphrey himself. The fund paid for Pumphrey's new wheelchair when Medi-Cal took his away. And when he had no money for therapy, the four Slone brothers, local firefighters and chiropractors, volunteered to help.

Think all this sounds great? Just wait, the story gets even better. Pumphrey recently received a legal settlement from the fall, which would pay for his medical expenses for life, so he decided to use part of that money, $5,000, and donate it back to the Random Acts of Kindness fund.

Oh, and did we tell you he's walking again? Yep, he recently walked up the steps of an Oakland fire truck even though doctors told him he'd never walk again.

"If it's not possible and yet it is, I guess you sort of have to call it a miracle," Andy's sister and Rory's mother, Carrisa Martos, told KTVU.

I guess we sorta have to agree, and just love that one amazing deed has led to so many others.

Photo courtesy of Happidog via stock.xchang.