Caught on cam: Complete stranger helps older woman who fell in the road

A Martin County man was driving home from work when he spotted a woman in the road who appeared to need help. He didn't hesitate and quickly lent her a hand.

by Rachael Perry 

STUART, Fla. — A Martin County man was driving home from work Monday when he spotted a woman in the road who appeared to need help. He didn't hesitate and quickly lent her a hand.

“Are you OK?”

Ryan Carter was almost home when he noticed something in the road.

"I saw something in the distance. It looked rather odd," Carter told WPBF.

He soon realized it was a person.

Having recently taken a class on Florida's Good Samaritan law, which protects people who voluntarily provide emergency assistance to others, he hit record on his Meta glasses.

"I saw that it was a serious situation at hand and I did what I think anybody should do in a situation like that and helped," Carter said.

He stopped to check on the woman, calling out to her while asking if she was OK and needed help.

He can be heard on the video asking, "What do you need from me? Need me to pick you up?"

The woman responded, telling him she was going to try to stand up in a minute or so. However, they both realized she was stuck, lying on top of her walker in a water-filled pothole.

“I saw somebody in a desperate situation, and I just wanted to be the hand that she could depend on," Carter said.

He didn't just help her up; Carter also got her some water and gave her a ride home.

But the encounter didn't end there. He later called to check on her.

"And she has been perfectly fine, and I'm actually looking forward to being reacquainted with her here in the near future," he said. 

Carter's good friend, Johnnie Owens, eventually posted the video to social media where he wrote:

"I know he's not going to like this, but he will get over it. Today, Ryan nonchalantly told me he helped an elderly woman, but after I seen the video, it was no doubt that he didn’t only help her, he saved her life. This guy underplays everything he does (especially for the kids) and doesn’t expect anything in return. This is not a post to give you credit for doing a good deed. This is a post to give you credit for being a Good Human Being."

But Carter said he doesn't think what he did was anything extraordinary. Instead, he believes helping someone in need should be instinct.

"Simple acts of kindness should be normal. Just instinctively. You do what's right at all times, and most importantly, you do right because it feels right to do right. You don't do it expecting something in return," he said.

A passion for helping others

Carter's commitment to helping people doesn't stop with a stranger on the side of the road.

He runs Hand 2 Hand, a nonprofit focused on helping young people in Martin County.

"We provide mentorship opportunities for them, educational opportunities, and also get them involved in the community," Carter said. 

Carter's nonprofit, Hand 2 Hand, is also planning a major alumni basketball event in the coming months.

"Positivity begets positivity"

Carter said the woman he stopped to help left an impression on him with her resilience and determination to get back up.

"I hope Miss Minnie invites me to her next triathlon because I could tell in that brief interaction with her that she is a force to be reckoned with," he said.

For Carter, the attention that came with the social media post wasn't expected, but he says he's thankful for the love and support the community has given.

"We need more positivity. It's something that I say to my son all the time. Positivity begets positivity," he said. 

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Caught on cam: Complete stranger helps older woman who fell in the road