By Natalie Eastwood
The Herald
HERMITAGE, Pa. — It’s not every day that life feels like a heartwarming TV commercial.
For Life Force Ambulance crew member Kathleen Zuschlag, Wednesday was one of those days.
Zuschlag, 27, of New Castle, was driving Wednesday afternoon with her partner, Christopher Mentch, when they saw an elderly man walking with a cane and several bags trying to cross the five lanes of South Hermitage Road near the GetGo convenience store and Royal Motel in Hermitage.
Zuschlag and Mentch, who were heading south, stopped without a second thought. A McGonigle Ambulance vehicle — driven by Wes Blauser and Shirley Falba — was northbound and also stopped to help the man.
The ambulances blocked traffic from both directions, then the emergency medical technicians helped the elderly man cross the street and carried his many bags.
“It was a really good sight to me,” Zuschlag said.
She said the incident reminds her of a commercial where an elderly man is trying to cross the street but runs out of time before the light changes. In his hurry, he drops the bag of apples he is carrying.
He looks at the people waiting in traffic, and leaves the apples so he can cross faster.
The people in traffic get out of their cars and pick up the apples rolling on the road.
“That is the most powerful commercial, and it makes me cry every time I see it, and that’s what I thought of yesterday,” Zuschlag said. “Those are the people who inspire me — those who go to help other people when they don’t have to.”
Zuschlag, a nursing student at Sharon Regional and volunteer firefighter, said helping others is very important to her. She wants to become a nurse practitioner so that she can help people take better care of themselves.
Whether it’s a mom juggling groceries and kids or an elderly person struggling to walk across the street, Zuschlag hopes that people will take the time to help.
Even if she hadn’t been at work, she would have stopped to help the man. She couldn’t have driven past knowing he was in the middle of the road, Zuschlag said.
“That could have meant the world to that guy,” she added.
“I have a passion for helping people.”
Copyright 2018 The Herald