By james art SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – A Lyft passenger contacted ABC15 in October hoping to find the driver who helped her after she fell on hot pavement in Scottsdale.
Well, we found that driver.
When ABC15 first met with Scottsdale’s Karen Fisher, she showed photos of what happened when she spilled on uneven, extremely hot pavement in Scottsdale’s Old Town on a sweltering August day.
“I never thought about dying until I was down there and I thought, ‘Boy, this could be the end,'” Fischer said in October.
Fischer suffered third-degree burns that put her in the hospital for more than 20 days and required a skin graft as part of her recovery.
The 69-year-old didn’t want to think about how much worse those injuries would have been had it not been for a stranger in the form of a shared driver she knew only as Sandra.
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Fisher said the driver picked her up off the hot pavement, drove her home, where she helped Fisher get inside safely, and then returned to check on her later that day.
After that first story aired, Sandra reached out to ABC15, saying she, too, wanted to give Fisher a long-awaited hug.
“You’re beautiful, thank you, my angel,” Fisher said, hugging California native Sandra Rodriguez.
Rodriguez explained that before driving for Lyft, she was a truck driver until she gave birth to her first child.
Lyft helps her make some money to support her growing family, she says.
“If I see you or anybody that needs help, I’d probably do it again,” Rodriguez said.
Numbers were exchanged on Friday, with brunch plans on the horizon, and the two enjoyed photos of Rodriguez’s baby, Mason.
Fischer even slipped Rodriguez a thank-you card complete with gift certificates and some birthday money, since Nov. 1 is Sandra’s 39th birthday.
Fisher reached out to ABC15 in hopes of getting a hug from a helpful stranger, and in doing so, she got plenty, including a new role as Mason “AZ Grams.”
