Tell Me What Happened
Tell Me What Happened is an award-winning podcast by OnStar that shares true stories of people who found themselves in life-threatening situations and were rescued by strangers. Each episode recounts a dramatic event, such as a sportswriter trapped in a frozen canal or a hiker struck by lightning, followed by expert advice on handling similar emergencies. The podcast celebrates human kindness and resilience, returning for a sixth season of compelling narratives.
Episodes
Escaping the Palisades Fire
In January 2025, a deadly fire blazed through the hills north of Los Angeles. Amidst the inferno, Aaron Samson needed to get his 83-year-old father-in-law, Ron, to safety. Aaron didn’t have a vehicle, and Ron has Parkinson’s disease. They tried 911. They tried to get a rideshare. They were on foot when they encountered Andrew Lin. He was attempting a different rescue when he stopped to save them i
Heatstroke in the Superstition Mountains
While on vacation, Colt Johnson went in search of a little fresh air and headed toward Arizona’s Superstition Mountains. Five hours into his hike, he began to feel lightheaded. He knew the heat was probably getting to him. His water was gone. Colt started losing his balance, and then his body started to fail. He laid down under a thorny bush and passed out. Before that, however, he fired three sho
Seen and Saved Through a Camera Lens
Antoinette Foley has had a tough life. She lost her children, struggled with addiction and ended up living in a tent by a river in Ireland. Her story could have ended there if not for a stranger who asked an unusual question. One day, on the sidewalk outside his shop, James Mahon asked if he could take her photo. That began an unlikely friendship that has lasted and greatly impacted both of them.
Struck by Lightning on the Trail
Minko Nikolov is an avid rock climber. Bouldering? Big vertical walls? He does it all. But he’s no risk-taker. In fact, on this day, he was only hiking in Rocky Mountain National Park. The weather didn’t look good, so Minko turned around and was heading back to his car when he was struck by lightning. When hikers found him, his body was smoking. We will also talk with Katie Flanagan about the dang
A Heart Attack and Help From the Crowd
Blaine Russell-Webster was going about his day when he suffered sudden cardiac arrest, lost consciousness, and rolled his work truck in front of a cemetery in Buffalo, New York. People rushed to help, even breaking the front windshield to pull him out. But what Blaine needed was someone who knew CPR, and he needed them fast.We also talk with Drew Ashley about the time he used lifesaving techniques
An Unlikely Avalanche
Janet He likes to ski. She does the blue runs and a few of the blacks, but she sticks to the in-bounds slopes and always minds weather warnings. None of that mattered one morning in Lake Tahoe. Out of nowhere, she heard a thunderous roar. Within seconds, Janet was buried alive under an avalanche. If not for the quick action of a passing skier, she never would have survived.We also talk with Leslie
A Jogger, His Dog, and an Icy Canal
As a sports columnist in Washington, D.C., Mike Wise loved unwinding with a run along the C&O Canal with his dog Looly. One fiercely cold night, Looly chased a stick onto a thin layer of ice and fell through. Soon, they were both in the frigid water and in danger of drowning, despite being blocks from the shops and restaurants of Georgetown. We also talk with Jay Ingram about the special bond betw
A New Season of Uplifting Stories
Tell Me What Happened is back for a sixth season with eight new heroic, true stories of people helping people. This season, we’ll take you to a raging river in Alaska, the searing heat of Arizona’s Superstition Mountains, the chaos of the Los Angeles fires, the icy waters of a Washington, D.C., canal and beyond. Each episode features a harrowing tale told by the people who were there and includes
Hiker Rescues Bridesmaids from Hurricane
Six hundred miles from where Hurricane Helene slammed into the Florida coast, a group of bridesmaids found themselves trapped on a mountainside.Kayla Donnelly is getting married in a couple months… but before her big day, she’s planned a bachelorette weekend to remember. She’s booked a cabin in the mountains of North Carolina for herself and her 10 best friends.Her idyllic plans turn disastrous wh
Musicians Rescue Hundreds on Sinking Ship
As a luxury cruise ship sinks, unlikely heroes come to the rescue.Rose-Marie Howe was shocked when her cruise was interrupted by a blackout. But she soon realized the loss of power was the least of her concerns. The ship was sinking, and no one seemed to know what to do.Moss Hills, a guitarist in the ship’s band, decided to go to the lounge to investigate. He found instruments thrown about the sta
Pulled Free and Paid Forward
A simple drive home becomes a life-or-death struggle.The weather wasn’t great, but Bryan Pederson was just a few blocks from home on a street he had driven a thousand times. Still, the wind was howling and rain was pouring down. Sitting at a traffic light, he heard a loud crack. Instantly, he was trapped in a car being crushed by a tree.Ten cars drove past the scene, peering through the rain at th
One Hug, Two Lives Changed
From a crowd of onlookers, one person steps forward to help.A teenage girl named Maddie walked to a highway overpass and stopped. As dozens of cars sped past, she climbed a railing, looked over the edge and considered stepping off. A few cars stopped then and people began to gather, but only person, David Johnson, sat down and talked to Maddie. That conversation led to a scream, a laugh and eventu
River Outing Takes a Twist
A leisurely float with friends nearly ends in tragedy.On a hot summer afternoon, Abi Sherman and some friends decided to cool off by floating down the Snoqualmie River in Washington. Growing up in the Pacific Northwest, she had plenty of experience in rivers. This time, however, everything went wrong. Her tube got stuck on a stump and she slipped into the freezing cold water. Without a life jacket
Rescued From a Ravine
Social media comes to the rescue.Stacey Eno loves to travel. Her friend Mikey does too, and so they made plans to meet up and explore Bali. After settling into their hotel, they decided to take a scooter to the town of Ubud for dinner. As they returned to the hotel in the dark, they veered off the road and tumbled into a ravine. They were left there for hours, critically injured, unable to move.
From Tragedy, a Love Story
Something good emerges from something awful. Chantal Melanson was a country girl from Canada. Austin Monfort was a college student from California. They met at a country bar in Las Vegas the night before the Route 91 Harvest Festival. By the next day, they were living the plot of a romance novel until gunfire erupted. The mass shooting claimed the lives of 60 people. The story of how Chantal and A
Face-to-Face With a Hungry Grizzly
A fight for life in the Canadian wilderness.Colin Dowler spent his whole life looking at the mountain named after his grandfather. Finally, at the age of 45, he decided to climb it. What should have been a two-day hike turned into a fight for his life when he encountered a massive grizzly bear. It took an extraordinary sequence of events to save his life.We also talk with Dr. Matt Levy with the Am
What Would You Do?
Tell Me What Happened returns for a fifth season of stories that will make you wonder, “What would I do?” If a grizzly attacked? If a cruise ship was sinking? If a night out on the other side of the world ended in a ravine? These are true stories of people stepping up to help strangers in peril, from Indonesia to Las Vegas, from the Oregon backcountry to British Columbia and beyond. As always, eac
Learning to Land on the Fly
On May 10, 2022, Darren Harrison was one of two passengers flying home to Florida from the Bahamas. They were still over the Atlantic Ocean when the pilot suffered a medical emergency and passed out at the controls, sending the plane into a nosedive. Darren was able to pull out of the dive and regain altitude. But he had no idea how he was going to land the plane.Robert Morgan is an air traffic co
After Addiction, a Chance to Do Right
Justin Downey had a choice — change his life or die. At 16, he was addicted to heroin. In his 20s, he was in and out of prison. While serving a three-year sentence, Justin’s kids were taken into state custody. He knew he had to become a new man for his family and for himself. Getting clean was the first step. But he also had to find purpose, community and a way to support himself.Margo Walsh start
A 9/11 Miracle
On September 11, 2001, Stanley Praimnath went to work on the 81st floor of the south tower of the World Trade Center, same as he always did. When a plane struck the north tower, Stanley and many others began their evacuation. But when he reached the lobby, he was told his building was safe and to return to work. He was back in his office minutes later when a plane hit the south tower and tore thro
Rip Current Rescue
In April 2023, Liv Titor visited Dreamtime beach on Australia's Gold Coast. What happened to her that day felt like a nightmare. After a quick swim, Liv walked out onto a sandbar beside some rocks. Then she felt a pull at her legs and fell into the water. Liv stepped into a rip current that quickly pulled her out to sea towards massive waves and jagged rocks. John Gordon, a local surfer, was makin
Escaping the Hawaii Wildfires
Lani Williams and her mother, Sincerity, could smell smoke, but that wasn’t rare on Maui. Brush fires happen with some regularity. This fire, they quickly learned, was different. Five hundred miles to the south, Hurricane Dora had kicked up unusually troublesome winds. In Lahaina, Hawaii, where Lani and Sincerity lived, those winds downed power lines and whipped sparks into a full-blown wildfire t
Under an Avalanche
Bob Tillotson knew the avalanche danger was high when he set out with friends into the Utah backcountry on his snowmobile. But he also knew which areas to avoid. Or so he thought. On January 13, 2024, an avalanche hit Bob without warning, carrying him down the mountain in a wave of snow. When he stopped, he was completely buried and separated from his group.Dustin Sweeten was snowmobiling with a s
Trapped in a Flooding Elevator
When Gabriel Otrin and Klever Freire stepped into their office elevator, they naturally assumed they’d be able to get out. It was August 2018, and a massive downpour was causing floods all over Toronto. Gabriel and Klever were working late and went to check on Klever’s car in the basement garage. Before they reached the bottom, however, the elevator stopped with a jerk and began to quickly fill wi
Badly Burned in Iceland
Nicole Rakowski arrived in Iceland looking for adventure. She left in a wheelchair. In February 2017, Nicole and two friends hiked to a natural hot spring just south of Reykjavík. When they arrived, Nicole took off her boots, changed into her bathing suit and stepped onto the riverbank beside the steaming water. She immediately began to sink into the mud and felt excruciating pain. She screamed fo
Saved from the Nazis, Rescued from Ukraine
In 1941, in Kharkiv, Ukraine, the Bogancha family saved two young Jewish girls from Nazi soldiers, giving them fake identities and hiding them in an orphanage. That act of kindness would ripple across time and, amazingly, lead to the help their descendants needed after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.Connecting those dates begins with a book. In 2009, Greg Dawson published Hiding in the Spotlight,
A Panic Attack and a Calming Voice
When her crowded New York City subway train screeched to an emergency stop, K.Page Stuart Valdes melted in fear. She’d recently had a stroke nobody could explain. Terrified it would happen again, right there surrounded by strangers, K.Page felt anxiety wash over her. Until one warm voice cut through the fog. That stranger, just another face on a train moments before, helped K.Page find her way out
Frozen and Fading in the Buffalo Blizzard
On the morning of Christmas Eve 2022, Joe White set out on the long walk to his job in the North Park neighborhood of Buffalo, New York. Joe has autism and he didn’t realize he was walking into the deadliest winter storm to hit the region in a century. Severely frostbitten and disoriented, Joe stumbled into snowdrifts and called out for help. A stranger heard his plea.Sha’Kyra Aughtry bundled Joe
A Lost Wheel, A Daring Landing
Taylor Hash, a student pilot, had just taken off on her third solo flight when she got the shock of her life. Over the radio, she heard another pilot telling air traffic control that her front wheel fell off during takeoff. Taylor knew she’d have to land the plane with no front wheel, but she had no idea how or what to do next. In a case of right place, right time, a veteran pilot named Chris Yate
Hero Battles Hurricane, Finds New Family
Kristy Millar spent days preparing for Hurricane Ian, but when the storm hit, her family ended up trapped in their rapidly flooding home. They escaped, but the storm had turned their street into a river. To get to higher ground, Kristy and her 3-year-old son were going to have to swim. Enter Kevin Ott.Ott was also out in the storm, determined to rescue his kids’ grandmother — who happened to be Kr
Face-to-Face With a Great White Shark
Phil Mummert was in the middle of a perfect day of surfing at Bunker Bay, one of his regular spots in western Australia, until he was suddenly knocked off his board. When he surfaced, his board was broken, his leg was bleeding, and there was a great white shark charging at him. Using only his bare hands, feet and what was left of his surfboard, Phil fought for his life. But he knew he wouldn’t las
Internet Sleuth Saves Lost Hiker
René Compeán had hiked in Angeles National Forest many times. So he didn’t think twice when he set out on one of his favorite trails for a quick hike. But to save time, he went off trail — and ended up lost and relying on a rapidly dying cell phone to call for help. René was unprepared to spend a cold night in the mountains with wildlife roaming around him, and his mental and physical health deter
Human Trafficking Survivor Gets New Life and Thrives
Suamhirs Piraino-Guzman was working at a job he loved, making enough money to provide for his family. At just 14, he was the father figure in his home in Honduras. One night after work he was abducted and smuggled into the United States. He was sold into sexual exploitation. For months he was tortured, beaten, drugged, starved and raped.But he was rescued.Sabrina Goosby took Suamhirs under her win
Slackliner Saves Skier Hanging From Chairlift
Arapahoe Basin is a legendary ski resort in Colorado, and when it’s a powder day, skiers wake up at the crack of dawn to get up the hill for those fresh tracks. That’s exactly what Richard Dempsey did, except he only got a few runs in before everything changed. Richard is able to recount his story thanks to a slackliner named Mickey Wilson who risked his own life to save someone he met that mornin
Heroic Bystander Saves Handler From Alligator Death Roll
Lindsay Bull has worked at Scales and Tails for years. She has hosted numerous demonstrations with the animals at the facility, but one wrong move can end in disaster. That’s what happened during a child’s birthday party. The main attraction, a nine foot long alligator named Darth Gator mistook her hand for food and the race was on to save Lindsay’s hand. Thanks to Donnie Wiseman who attended the
Walking Through Fire to Save 65 Horses
Sixty-five horses live at Tamara Boole’s equestrian center. That is a lot of large animals to move to safety in a short period of time. But that’s what had to be done as the fires from the CZU Lightning Complex Fires bore down on Felton, California in August 2020.Thanks to local ranchers, including another stable owner - Michelle Le Clair, the horses at Tamara Boole’s Covered Bridge Equestrian Ce
Mountain of Mud Buries Motorists
Gabe Rosescu had driven on the highway numerous times and was used to driving in all types of weather. But the day Gabe took his then new partner of six months, Sheri Niemegeers, on an epic road trip to see his friends, he could never have planned for what was about to occur. It’s not every day you see a tree crossing the road in front of you. Thanks to four motorists who risked their own lives, S
R U OK? Virtual Friend Saves Gamer’s Life
A seizure can happen anywhere at any time. It just so happened that when Aidan Jackson suffered a seizure there was no one there to witness it or call for help. But there was someone 5,000 miles away — another gamer who he had been talking to online. Raven Wolvesbane realized Aidan was having a seizure and quickly set to work trying to figure out how to send First Responders to his home. The only
12 Hours Trapped In Quicksand
It wasn’t the first time that Ryan Osmun had been hiking in a National Park, nor was it the first time he had hiked in the winter. Ryan knew what equipment to take and packed accordingly. As a photographer he enjoys hiking trails when they’re less populated. But he never expected to find himself or his girlfriend stuck on the trail, literally. A desperate phone call for help brought lifesaving ass
Trapped by Fire, He Texts Goodbye
Driving through the Rocky Mountains usually means spectacular views and up-close encounters with wildlife. But on the wrong stretch of road at the wrong time of year, it can also mean coming face-to-face with deadly wildfires. Robert Craig found himself trapped by flames and didn’t think he would escape — until, suddenly, a stranger arrived.We also speak to Tony Briggs, regional chief executive of
They Nearly Drowned, Then Fell in Love
Nupur Gupta was enjoying a swim in the ocean after a day at a yoga retreat. But the waves, current and setting sun all added up to a dangerous situation. This episode features a story that will warm the heart of even the most cynical listener: It’s not just about survival, but also about true love across continents.We also speak to Dr. Denise Marigold, associate professor and chair of Social Devel
With Floodwaters Rising, Help Swoops In
When Debra Ashton’s community was hit by a flash flood, her first step was to check on her senior tenant next door. When she came back outside, floodwaters were raging and her street had become a river. Debra ended up in the water and was swept away several blocks, praying she would make it out alive. Those prayers were answered when a helicopter pilot named Joel Boyers got a frantic phone call as
A Helping Hand When a Winter Road Trip Goes Awry
When her husband was stationed in Alaska, one woman had to relocate her family from Georgia. It was a long drive across a foreign country, made worse by travel restrictions imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Delays meant the family left later than expected, which put them right in the middle of the Canadian winter, driving their truck and towing a rented trailer with all their possessions throu
A Mother’s Intuition Leads to Rescue
A German hiker has a dream of hiking the entire Pacific Crest Trail, from the Mexico border to the Canada border. All 2,650 miles, alone. Katharina Gröne, aka City Girl, met numerous hikers along her journey, and made great memories. But quitting wasn’t in her vocabulary, and even though several people suggested it was too late in the season to continue, she kept going until she couldn’t go any fa
A New Kidney & A Big Surprise
We all interact with people in our day-to-day lives that we never expect to meet again: a clerk at the mall, a bus driver or the person sitting next to you on an airplane. But what if one of those strangers turned out to be the most important person in your life? This is the story of how someone from a police officer’s past ended up saving his life.We also speak to Dr. Naomi Grant, professor of so
An Epic Journey Proves Too Painful
Jill Brown sets ambitious goals for herself. For example, one summer she decided she would paddle across the country from Oregon to Florida. Along the way she faced physical dangers such as rapids, broken bones and rattlesnakes, but also deep personal challenges such as hunger and loneliness. Just when Jill was at her limit, a chance encounter changed the path of her journey.We also speak to Dr. C
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