About 25 years ago, when Jake Berry was a freshman in college, he received bad news. One of his oldest friends, Jack, had been rushed to the hospital. The cause of his hospitalization was unclear.
"This was in the early days of texting, so I was really waiting on phone calls to get updates on Jack's condition and what was happening," Berry said.
It was a Thursday evening, which usually meant he'd go out with his friends. But he wasn't in the mood for socializing.
"I just needed some time on my own to try and clear my head and find out more about what was going on. So, I stayed back alone in my dorm room in what quickly became one of the longest and loneliest nights of my life," Berry recalled.
Late in the evening, one of his friends, Jess, stopped by his dorm room to check on him. Jess brought along two friends who were visiting for the weekend. Berry recalled Jess introducing them as Kim and Corey.
The four of them chatted for a few minutes. As soon as they learned Berry's predicament, Kim and Corey jumped in to help. The two women left and got their car, picked Berry up, and drove him the hour or so north back to his hometown.
"They dropped me off at a friend's house where all these others had been gathering. I was able to spend the night there really crying, commiserating with these friends of mine," Berry said.
Berry's friend Jack was eventually diagnosed with lymphoma. He died about a year later. But the community built around Jack while he was alive is still present in Berry's life.
"Those friends that I gathered with that night, now they're my brothers. We have been through the highs and lows of life together. Many of us are now living back ... in the same town where we grew up in. We're raising our kids together," Berry said.
"I think back to how much I would have missed if I hadn't been there that night . . . and I have Kim and Corey and Jess to thank for that."
Berry lost touch years ago with the women who ensured he made the trek home that night, but he hasn't forgotten them.
"I really think of them often — the impact that they have had on my life — [and] I hope [their] generosity has come back to them tenfold."
My Unsung Hero is also a podcast — new episodes are released every Tuesday.
Copyright 2026 NPR
