Woman dials wrong number, gets help

KENTVILLE, Nova Scotia (WHDH) -- The wrong number led to the right person. A woman in need of medical care accidentally called a man who happened to be nearby.

"It’s a freaky thing, strange things happen, I guess."

Stephen Dykens was driving home to drop off his dog when a wrong number suddenly changed his plans. He had a woman in distress at the end of the line.

"I was going to ignore it and she said, 'I’m scared. I can't find my daughter and I think I’m having a stroke,' and when she said the word stroke, that made me think, 'wow, this person really needs some help,'" Dykens explained.

Dykens asked where she lived, and realized he happened to be just minutes away.

"I looked up at that moment and the Greenwich road sign was right there, so I said, ‘We're here, we gotta help ya,’" Dykens said.

He and his passenger rushed to her door and did what they could while they waited for an ambulance.

"I just sort of bent down on my knee and had my hand on her leg and just kind of you know tried to talk calmly and assure her that help was on the way," Dykens said.

"I was afraid to walk, but I opened the door to let them in and they came in to rescue me," Eileen O’Hara said.

Eileen O'Hara was taken to hospital and treated for bleeding in her brain.

She's grateful for the kindness of strangers.

"I’d say thank you very much. I appreciate it," O’Hara said.

We often hear about accidents that turn into tragedies. But, in this case, a phone call, made completely by mistake, turned into what some would call a miracle.

"There was an angel. There was an angel looking after mom that day," said Ruth Gaul, O’Hara’s daughter.

O’Hara’s daughter says words are not enough.

"What do you do when that happens? You know, you just say thank you over and over again and I would like to meet him and thank him in person," Gaul said.

Eileen O’Hara is blind, suffering from lung and brain cancer, but that fateful moment has given her hope.

"I think about things more, how things happen, how lucky I was, how lucky I am to be here," O’Hara said.

But Stephen Dykens doesn't consider himself a hero.

"It’s not that big a deal. I mean, I can't see why anyone else wouldn't do it, I mean it's just kinda wild that she called the right car going by," Dykens said.

Whatever happened, someone who was scared and alone had a knight in shining armor that day.