- Last week, while driving with her one-year-old son,
our first guest experienced
the most frightening event of her life.
Thankfully, a hero appeared
on the busy highway to save the day.
From Springfield, Minnesota, please welcome Sara Sorby.
So you were driving Ben, your one-year-old son,
to a doctor's appointment.
- Yes. - Was he sick?
- He has some medical issues we're trying to figure out,
so he has doctor appointments just about every other week.
- Wow, okay. So that's stressful enough.
So you're driving him, and what happens?
- I was driving, and my accelerator pedal in my car
kind of started skipping.
So I called my dad, and I said, "What should I do?
My car's not working."
And he said, "You need to pull over."
So I was in the left lane.
I needed to get all the way to the right lane,
and my accelerator pedal just stopped working,
and I'm watching the speedometer just drop on my car.
So I basically kind of just coasted over to the right lane,
And I went to brake, and my brake wouldn't work,
so I just kind of shifted it into park,
and then my car started filling with smoke.
- Oh, my gosh.
- So you get out of the car.
You grabbed Ben, obviously.
It's freezing, probably. Minnesota.
- It was cold, but I think my adrenaline was so crazy
that I remember being warm.
- Well, there was a fire next to you, so, yeah.
[laughter]
You could've kept warm that way. - Yeah.
- All right, so you're standing on the side of the road
with your child, and your car's on fire,
and no one's stopping.
How many cars passed by, do you think?
- I have no idea. The time was at a standstill.
I was in shock. I just stood there.
I just held him in my arms.
I have no idea how many cars passed by.
- Wow.
But obviously enough that the car--
and so finally, this wonderful guy--
his name is Joseph?
- Joseph, mm-hmm. - Joseph stops.
And what a-- do you remember that moment
when he came up to you?
- I was watching the cars go by, and I hear,
"Ma'am, are you okay?"
And I turned to look at him, and he looked panicked.
And I was still kind of calm.
I didn't know what to do.
And so he said,
"You need to get away from your car immediately.
Your car is on fire."
And then I realized, "Okay,
this is more than just a smoking vehicle."
So I started to walk over to him,
and I burst into tears.
I was hysterical.
And he said, "Do you have any belongings,"
you know, "That you need to get?"
And I said, "Well, my purse and my medical--
my son's medical records are by my car."
He said, "We need to go get them."
And as I turned to go get them, he kind of...
held his hand out firmly and said, "No.
You have to stay here." - And then he went for them.
- He put on a respirator mask... - Wow.
- And went to go get them. - His name is Joseph Stampley.
You have not seen him since this happened.
Joseph? [cheers and applause]
- [singing] This is how we do it
This is how we do it
La-la-la-la-la, la-la
- You did what anybody should have done,
but they didn't, and you did, so good for you,
and thank goodness you were driving by...
- Thank you. Thank you. - At that moment.
[applause]
I can't believe no one else stopped,
but it really is a good thing
that you happened to be driving by at that moment.
So you're driving by, and you saw the car--
was it on fire when you saw it or just smoking?
- No, it was just smoking.
It had a lot of black smoke coming out of it.
- So then you just pull over, which is the right thing to do,
and go up to her.
And how quickly did it catch on fire?
- Within seconds.
We were in the middle-- she was in the middle
of telling me that she needs to get to her destination.
- Right.
- And I keep telling her,
"You need to get away from this car."
You know, it can explode.
It's not just in movies.
- Yeah, right. - [chuckles]
- There's gas in there. - There's gas in there.
- All kinds of things.
So you knew it could explode,
and yet her purse is in there and her son's medical records,
and you put your respirator on and went in after that.
- Yep. - Really brave of you.
Really amazing.
I mean... - Thank you. Thank you.
[applause]
- And this--
I don't even think you know this.
So after you left them at-- I think the gas station, right?
- Yes, yes.
- So you were waiting for your dad
to come pick you up.
Tell her what you did.
- Well, I didn't want to just, you know,
stand there looking creepy...
[laughter]
After you told me no,
I got in my truck and just drove around
to the other side of the gas station and waited
to make sure your dad did come.
- Thank you.
[applause]
- Isn't that amazing?
I mean, the fact that he didn't leave.
He just waited to make sure you were--
'cause you were in shock.
You must have been freaking out.
And you're holding your son.
And so there is insurance money,
but you owed money on the car as well, right?
- Yeah, we were gonna pay it off this week.
- Uh-huh. Okay, well...
- Not anymore. - Yeah, no.
All right, well, we have been partners with Shutterfly
for three years, and they have helped us
with hundreds of peoples' lives they want to make better.
And they want to give you a check
for $10,000 to help you...
[cheers and applause]
That'll help.
And Joseph, I know you work long hours,
and you're struggling paycheck to paycheck.
So Shutterfly wants to give you $15,000.
[cheers and applause]
- Oh, my God.
- That's what you get for being a good guy.
- Thank you. - You're a good guy.