A young boy safely returned to his family after getting lost at the NYC Marathon

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.

About 30 years ago, Nancy Willis ran the New York City Marathon. Her entire family — her three kids, her husband and his parents — agreed to meet up near the finish line and celebrate what she’d just accomplished.

After finishing the race, Willis made her way to their planned reunion spot. She was welcomed with hugs from each of her family members. But one hug was missing. Her 8-year-old son, Jack, was nowhere to be found.

Quickly, the family sprang into action, searching for the boy. They asked the marathon organizers to send out information over the loudspeakers. Even strangers in the crowd were calling out Jack’s name.

“That type of energy and focus helped me to stay calm … Rather than us becoming despondent and crying, we just turned all our energy into trying to find Jack,” Willis remembered.

“[After] what seemed like more than an hour, but it was probably 10 minutes, a woman came up and was holding my son’s hand. And she joined his hand with my father-in-law’s hand and [asked], ‘Is this your grandson?”’

Willis’ father-in-law grabbed Jack and hugged him tight. The rest of the family, relieved and overwhelmed with emotion, embraced the young boy.

When they turned around to thank the woman who had found and returned Jack, she had disappeared.

“She was not looking for any accolades. She just knew that he was safe,” Willis said.

“If I ever had the privilege to meet you, I would say thank you from the bottom of my heart, because it was probably one of the hardest days of my life, and you fixed it. And for that I would give you the biggest hug in the world and say, ‘Thank you.'”

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.