As it’s January and it’s a miserable time of year for pretty much everyone, I thought I’d make your year by sharing a heartwarming story about selfless gestures.
You might wanna get the tissues, it’s a tear jerker… An NFL player got stranded on his way to an important game on Saturday (January 12) when his car became stuck in the snow.
Passing by the scene, and completely unaware that the stranded man was Jeff Allen – offensive lineman for the Kansas City Chiefs – was Dave Cochran, a homeless man who just wanted to do the right thing.
As reported by KSHB, Allen became stranded in the snow while travelling to the Kansas City Chiefs’ playoff fixture on Saturday against the Indianapolis Colts, which would end in victory for the Chiefs.
As he sat in his car, a good samaritan passed by and saw that the NFL player needed help. And so Cochran offered Allen a helping hand, all the while not knowing who he was.
Speaking to KSHB, the good samaritan said:
I was driving down (U.S.) 40 Highway and saw a couple cars stuck. I pulled one car out before that, then I saw another car stuck and I told my old lady, ‘We have to help him.’
Cochran is homeless and lives in a truck with his girlfriend and small dog, but that didn’t stop him from helping others who he felt were in need.
And while he had no idea who was stranded in the car, the man knew he couldn’t leave whoever it was stuck in the cold – especially as the snow-packed streets were causing chaos for everyone.
Cochran continued:
It said Texas plates. He wasn’t used to this weather. He isn’t used to this coldness. He is from Texas.
Without Cochran’s help, the football player wouldn’t have got to the game at Arrowhead Stadium in time for kick off.
The good samaritan explained his selfless actions further, saying:
(I) just pulled over. I went to help him, then he told me he was a Chiefs player. I didn’t know he was a Chiefs player. I looked at him as a normal person and hoped he would do the same for me like I did for him.
And his act of kindness did not go unnoticed, as Allen took to social media immediately after the game in search of Dave.
Addressing his 24K followers, Allen wrote:
My car got stuck in the snow before the game & a nice guy named Dave help pull me out without knowing I was a player. I want to give him tickets to the AFC championship game for helping but don’t have a way to contact him. He drove a 97 or 98 Black Suburban. Pls RT #ChiefsKingdom
The tweet quickly went viral, gathering more than 43K likes at the time of writing (January 14) and Allen was able to track Cochran down.
As such, Cochran is now the proud owner of tickets to the AFC Championship game on Sunday January 19 against the New England Patriots at Arrowhead Stadium.
He says he is ‘overwhelmed’ by the attention but only helped because he felt it was the right thing to do at the time.
He told KSHB:
That’s a natural habit for me is to help people. I don’t expect anything in return. All I was expecting was a thank you.
The good samaritan has never been to a Chiefs game before and says he is excited for the opportunity.
He said:
It’s like a dream come true. I saw the message this morning, and I am not going to fake with you, call me soft if you want to homeboys, I started bawling to know he is a man of his word and he reached out to contact me.
I’m not crying, you are.
If you have a story you want to tell, send it to stories@unilad.co.uk.
A Broadcast Journalism Masters graduate who went on to achieve an NCTJ level 3 Diploma in Journalism, Lucy has done stints at ITV, BBC Inside Out and Key 103. While working as a journalist for UNILAD, Lucy has reported on breaking news stories while also writing features about mental health, cervical screening awareness, and Little Mix (who she is unapologetically obsessed with).