Out of Cheyenne, Wyoming, is coming a new and touching story that could come from an alternative reality: It’s about a businessman whose huge SUV was hit, last winter, by a tiny car driven by a teen who skidded on ice, and his decision to buy her a replacement vehicle.
The Cowboy State Daily tells of financial adviser Bryan Pedersen, whose family was with him in his huge Escalade, when Grace, 16, a teen on her way home from church, slid on ice at a Cheyenne intersection and bounced off Pedersen’s vehicle.
His was dented; hers was totaled.
But, the report explains, Pedersen also was impressed with how Gracie handled the situation.
“Although visibly upset and shaky, the teen showed a lot of maturity and compassion, he said,” the report explained. “She was in tears because she felt terrible that she had run into somebody. Then you start thinking about what a car represents to someone like her — growing up, independence, working for something.”
Pedersen said he made sure his kids were OK, then got out, and was agitated, but looked around.
“She has this parking pass for one of the high schools in her windshield, so then I know that she’s just a kid. And she’s just dressed very nice and was on her way home from church,” he noted.
Her car was “leaking every color fluid you can imagine and was just immovable. Totaled,” he said.
The teen immediately was concerned for Pedersen’s family, he said. Her first question was, “Is everyone OK?’ She’s much more put together than I was at that age. That was not me when I was 17.”
He decided perhaps a hand up would be the best way to leave both sides better off.
“I was thinking about it all and asked around about her. Turns out, she’s a 4.0 student in high school, she’s going to graduate early and major in physics (in college). She’s just a good kid in her school. She also works for a local hardware store and paid for that car herself. Yeah, she had hit us, but I felt I had a moral responsibility to help her as I could,” he explained.
“He put out some feelers to some friends and, along with a few thousand dollars of his own, quickly raised nearly $15,000 to buy Gracie another car,” the report explained.
“I knew she could never just go out and replace the one that was totaled,” he said.
So he went shopping.
“He found a low-mileage 2018 Ford Echo, red, and recently presented the car to Gracie, who was totally surprised,” the report said.
In an interview on CBS, Gracie said, “I didn’t even know what to say, I didn’t know what to do. It’s such a huge gift, obviously, I didn’t know how to express how much it really meant.”
“Yes, she had hit us, but I felt I had a moral responsibility to help her as I could,” Pedersen explained. “It’s an opportunity to continue on in her life moving forward. She’s such a good kid and deserves to keep on with her goals in life and not have this be a moment that diverts her life into a different outcome.”
Pedersen explained Gracie asked about paying it forward.
“She asked me, what can we do to help pay this forward?” he said. “I told her that sometime over the next 20 years, an opportunity will present itself. You’ll know it when you see it, and then you can help someone.”
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Author: Bob Unruh
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