© 2025
In touch with the world ... at home on the High Plains
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
We recently completed the changeover to a new, much improved audio management system, including a new program scheduling computer, file servers, workstations and more secure and reliable IT networking between our studios in Garden City and Amarillo. This work involved thousands of audio files and lines of programming code, so you may hear some glitches in our programming as we "burn-in" the system in the coming days. We apologize for any disruptions to your listening. If you have questions or problems to report, please contact HPPR's Technical Director, Alex Fregger (afregger@hppr.org).

KJJJP-FM 105.7 in Amarillo is currently operating at 10% power due to problems with its main transmitter. Engineers are currently working to resolve the problem. If you listen to 105.7 FM and are experiencing reception problems, you can always listen to its programming through the streaming player above.

Amid intense grief, a college student is comforted by a stranger on a plane

Cara Beth Rogers (left) and her brother Luke when they were kids.
Cara Beth Rogers
Cara Beth Rogers (left) and her brother Luke when they were kids.

This story is part of the My Unsung Hero series, from the Hidden Brain team. It features stories of people whose kindness left a lasting impression on someone else.

In the fall of 2008, Cara Beth Rogers was taking part in a study abroad program in Rabat, Morocco. She was 20 years old and looking forward to spending the semester overseas.

But three weeks into the program, Rogers received a call from her parents. Her younger brother, Luke, had died in a boating accident.

"He and I were 15 months apart, and the news of his passing rocked me to my core," Rogers said.

Rogers needed to get back to her hometown of Seattle. The next day was a blur of booking airline tickets and packing her bags. Soon she found herself on the plane, alone for the first time since she got the news.

"I will never forget the way that it felt to try to sit still. It was impossible," she said. "I couldn't stop moving because the strength of the emotions was so intense."

She was surrounded by other passengers. But sitting there in the aisle seat, Rogers felt alone.

"I felt like people were avoiding eye contact with me. They weren't really sure what to do with me," she said.

Then, partway through the flight, a man crouched in the aisle next to her seat. He made direct eye contact with her and began to speak softly and slowly.

"He said, 'I know you don't know me, and I don't know what's going on for you. But I want you to know that if you need anything, I'm here,'" Rogers remembered.

After thanking the man, Rogers watched him go back to his seat. They didn't interact again, but his reaching out to her made the rest of the flight a little more bearable.

"I felt like I was in this cavern of just, like, untenable emotion and that I was deeply, deeply alone," she said. "And knowing that I was on a plane with somebody that could see me and that knew that I needed something, even if [he] didn't know what it was, was an incredibly powerful experience. I will be forever grateful to him."

My Unsung Hero is also a podcast — new episodes are released every Tuesday. To share the story of your unsung hero with the Hidden Brain team, record a voice memo on your phone and send it to myunsunghero@hiddenbrain.org.

Copyright 2025 NPR

Laura Kwerel
[Copyright 2024 NPR]
Autumn Barnes
[Copyright 2024 NPR]