NEED TO KNOW
- A California woman was reunited with the stranger who she says helped her through a devastating roadside accident 35 years ago
- Jennifer McLaughlin was just 9 years old in 1990 when her 29-year-old sister was killed in a car crash, leaving Jennifer alone on the side of the road
- Jennifer says she has always remembered Rhonda Ray, a woman who stopped and stayed with her until her parents arrived
A California woman was recently reunited with the stranger who she says helped her through a devastating roadside accident 35 years ago.
Jennifer McLaughlin was 9 years old in 1990 when she was in a car accident in Fullerton with her 29-year-old sister, Tammy, per ABC affiliate KABC. Tammy did not survive the crash, and Jennifer says she doesn’t remember much about the moments surrounding the incident.
“I don’t remember seeing a single car that night. It was raining, and I don’t even remember the ambulance pulling up, or any of it,” she recalled while speaking to the outlet.
However, she does remember that she wasn’t alone. A young mother named Rhonda Ray stopped when she saw the wreckage.
“I don’t even remember what she looked like. I couldn’t tell you how old she was … I just knew she was there,” Jennifer continued.
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Rhonda stayed with Jennifer until the ambulance arrived and even accompanied her to the hospital to keep her company until her parents got there. Jennifer, who went on to join the military and move out of state, said she never forgot the incredible act of kindness.
“I thought about Rhonda throughout my whole life. Every time I told people my story, Rhonda was always part of it,” she told KABC.
Jennifer — who had already looked through police reports in an effort to track Rhonda down — recently took to social media in the hopes of finding her long-lost helper.
She posted on the Facebook group “Fullerton Buzz,” writing, “Hi Fullerton, This is a very long shot… I don’t remember much from that day, but I do remember how nice this lady was to me.”
Rhonda’s grown daughter saw the post, and she reached out to Jennifer to let her know that she could help connect them.
For her part, Rhonda says she was shocked to learn that the little girl she had briefly known all those years ago was looking for her.
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“[My daughter] goes, ‘Mom, remember that girl that you helped?’ because I had told her the story,” Rhonda told KABC, adding, “I said, ‘Are you kidding me?’ ”
Jennifer ultimately called Rhonda on the phone, which Rhonda said was an emotional moment for them both.
“Jennifer called me, and as soon as I heard her voice, we were both crying. I was so happy she’s okay, and is such an amazing human being,” she said.
Rhonda also said she still has her own memories from the fateful night of the accident.
“I looked all over, and she [Jennifer] was standing alone. She was wet. She was in shock, and she was shaking,” Rhonda recalled.
The two have since met in person, and Jennifer told ABC 7 that she knows they will be in touch for the rest of their lives. She also said that she believes Rhonda’s act of kindness helped shape the person she ultimately became.
“She didn’t have to stop. She didn’t have to go to the hospital with me. She stopped her whole day to be with this little 9-year-old girl who she didn’t know, and that’s what I’ve spent my life trying to be, and that has been ingrained in me since I was a child, to be a good person, to be the helper,” Jennifer said.
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