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A young woman headed to surprise her family for Christmas ended up stranded with a flat tire. It was late and as Dennis Lee Richards of Riverside Auto & Towing, Longbottom, OH, arrived on scene, he could see the member was quite scared and upset. Since she did not have a spare tire, he knew he would have to tow her car to his shop. Before loading up her vehicle, Dennis called his wife and they both agreed he would bring her to their home so she had a place to wait while he repaired her tire. Once Dennis got her car to his shop and had a chance to get a better look, he realized the tire could not be fixed. Usually he doesn’t keep tires in stock but it just so happened he had two tires on hand that fit her car. After changing both front tires, Dennis went to his home where she was waiting and offered the new tires as a Christmas present. He only asked that she first call her parents and let them know she was traveling.

Before the young woman left, Dennis’s wife packed up some snacks for the road and told her where she could stop along her route to rest safely. As she turned to leave, Dennis saw that she had tears in her eyes. When telling this story, Dennis says, “I know we gave her tires but it seems like her visit was a gift to us that night. She told my wife the reason she called us was because her grandmother had told her that if she was ever stranded to always call AAA because she would find people she could trust.”

Dennis was a Real Hero of the Road to that young woman who was just trying to get home to her family for the holidays. When you’re driving along the highway and you see Dennis or a tow truck operator like him working, think of this story and what his kindness meant to her. And when you do, please slow down and move over so they can do their job safely. We need people like Dennis. So do our members. But, most of all so do their families. Help us keep them safe.

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