Woman Saves Florist’s Life and He Has Been Giving Away Flowers for Free since Then – Story of the Day

A florist's life is transformed when a woman saves him from heat stroke, and from then on he vows to give a little joy to the women who pass by his shop.

Joanna Gallows was driving down the road when she noticed a jogger stagger along the side of the road. Then the man stopped and Joanna saw his legs fold, and he fell down.

Joanna stopped immediately and ran to his side. The man was panting, his face was bright red, but his skin was bone dry. She was sure he had a heat stroke. His life could be in danger!

Joanna saw the man on the side of the road start to stagger. | Source: Unsplash

Joanna ran back to her car and came back with two-liter bottles of water. She wet a handkerchief and placed it on the man's forehead and soaked his sweatshirt with the cold water.

Then she dialed 911 and called for an ambulance. While she waited for the paramedics, Joanna kept fanning the man and cooling his forehead and his body as best she could.

The ambulance arrived and Joanna stepped back with relief as the paramedic arrived and took over. She got back into her car and drove away on her way out of town. Her part in this story ends here, but her act of solidarity was to affect many lives.

Joanna used water to cool the jogger down. | Source: Unsplash

When the man Joanna had saved woke up in the hospital, he was dazed. Hank Lewis woke up shivering with cold from the cold packs in his armpits and his groin and with an IV needle in his arm.

The hospital staff told him he owed his life to a stranger who'd managed to prevent brain damage by lowering his temperature. Without that woman's help, they said, he might never have woken up again.

Hank asked who the stranger was, but the paramedics had been too busy caring for him to ask Joanna for her name and address. All that they could tell him was that it was a woman. Hank placed ads online, told his story on Instagram, and asked the woman to come forward, but no one did.

"If only I knew who she was," he complained to his wife. "I could send her a bouquet of flowers from the shop!" (Hank was the owner of a successful flower shop.)

Once the ambulance arrived, Joanna drove off. | Source: Unsplash

"Well," his wife said. "You never know! She might walk down the street every day and right past our shop!"

"That's right!" Hank gasped. "She could be anyone!"

The next day, Hank prepared a beautiful bouquet of red roses and walked out of the shop. He stood and watched the people going by, then he approached a worried-looking young woman.

"Excuse me," he said. "These are for you, as thanks for all the wonderful things you do to make life better for those around you."

Hank woke up in the hospital. | Source: Unsplash

The woman blushed, stammered, and took the flowers. A wonderful smile dawned on her tired face. "Thank you!" she cried. "Oh, THANK YOU!"

The next day, Hank chose a bouquet of sunny yellow tulips still gemmed with dew and gave them to a sad-faced older lady. "I want you to remember that you're loved," he said.

The woman took the tulips with trembling hands and tear-filled eyes. "Oh," she whispered. "No one has given me flowers in over thirty years!"

Hank told his wife what he'd been doing, and how the women had reacted. She looked at him thoughtfully and said, "You know, Hank, I think what you are doing is what that woman did for you.

No one could tell Hank who had saved his life. | Source: Unsplash

"She may have kept your body alive, but you are giving these woman's souls first aid! I can imagine that for many women out there, life is an endless drudgery, with no romance and no beauty.

"When you give them the flowers, they must feel as if they are seen for the first time in years -- maybe in their whole lives!"

"I like doing it," Hank confessed. "It just feels so good to see those smiles. But I enjoy it so much that I think maybe it's a bit selfish!"

"No, Hank!" his wife said. "You are passing on the gift you received -- discovering a new lease on life!"

Every day, Hank gives away a bouquet of flowers in honor of his mysterious rescuer. | Source: Unsplash

And so from then on, Hank has been giving away a bouquet of his best flowers a day to women who look as if they need to remember that life is worth living, all in honor of his mysterious rescuer.

It might be Hank, and he probably feels that you need to remember that you are beautiful, wonderful, and beloved. So take the flowers and smile. That's his biggest reward and the best part of his day.

What can we learn from this story?

• Good deeds and kindness should be passed on to those who need them. Hank couldn't find the woman who saved his life, so he decided to bring some happiness into the lives of the women who walked by his shop every day.
• No matter how hard life becomes, or the troubles that assail us, always remember that you are loved. Hank was delighted to discover that his flowers brought much-needed happiness and comfort to the women he gave them to.

Share this story with your friends. It might brighten their day and inspire them.

If you enjoyed this story, you might like this one about a florist who becomes curious when she notices an 89-year-old man buying red roses every day, so she follows him.

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