Letter to the Editor: A Little River resident and his act of kindness

Editor’s note: The following is a letter to the editor. The opinions expressed in this letter are those of the writer, and do not necessarily reflect those of The Mendocino Voice. If you would like to submit a letter to the editor feel free to write to info@mendovoice.com. 

Dear Editor:

Too often, the news is filled with stories of conflict, frustration and disappointment. I would like to share a very different kind of story with your readers—one about kindness from a stranger and the lasting effect it had on me.

While driving from Seattle to Monterey, I was traveling through the Gasquet/Patrick Creek area when I struck a large rock in the roadway. It instantly destroyed the sidewall of my right front tire and damaged the right rear tire as well.

I was about nine hours into the trip. The temperature was approximately 107 degrees, I had no useful tools, and there was no cell reception.

I tried using the emergency tire sealant I had in the car, but the tire would not hold air. For the next hour and a half, vehicles passed while I tried to figure out how I was going to get myself and the car out of this very isolated area. Meaningful assistance was roughly 100 miles away, and arranging for a flatbed without cell service seemed impossible.

Then Kevin Folsom stopped.

Kevin was working on a bridge project nearby and was temporarily away from his wife and children while on the job. He didn’t simply pull over and ask if I needed help. He happened to have exactly what I needed: tire plugs, soapy water, an air compressor and, on that brutally hot afternoon, ice-cold mineral water.

He stayed with me and made an emergency repair that allowed me to get safely out of the area. He expected nothing in return.

Without Kevin, I very likely have lost a couple of days and incurred thousands of dollars in towing and other expenses. More importantly, in a situation where I felt completely stranded, a stranger simply decided to stop and help.

After returning home, I became determined to find him and properly thank him. Using the GPS location from a photograph I had taken of the damaged tire, I traced the area to Gasquet and learned about the Smith River bridge projects.

That led me to Clayton Malmberg, a Caltrans construction engineer. I explained what had happened and asked if he might be able to locate Kevin and pass along my contact information.

Clayton could not have been more gracious. He told me how pleased he was to receive a call like mine, since those involved in highway construction understandably hear far more complaints than compliments.

A week later, Clayton left me a voicemail, and it became obvious that finding Kevin had required far more than a single phone call. He had sorted through the various projects along the Smith River, contacted contractors and determined that Kevin worked for McCullough Construction on a bridge project upriver, not the project I had originally assumed.

Clayton did not have to go to that much trouble for a stranger, either.

Because of his persistence, I was finally able to speak with Kevin, who lives in Little River. He was every bit the kind and generous person I remembered from that scorching afternoon near Patrick Creek. What impressed me most was that Kevin did not seem to regard what he had done as particularly remarkable. To him, helping someone in need was simply what a person should do.

That is what made it so remarkable.

I remain deeply grateful to Kevin, and I hope his supervisors, coworkers, wife and children know that one decision to stop and help a stranger made an enormous difference.

It also changed something in me. Since that day, I find myself more consciously looking for opportunities to pay his generosity forward.

Thank you, Kevin Folsom, for stopping. And thank you, Clayton Malmberg, for helping me find the man who came to my rescue.