Patrick Heelen: Inspiring Good in Others
Touched by an act of kindness, Alta Vista, Kansas, resident Patrick Heelen aims to return the favor a thousand times over by enlisting friends and neighbors in his self-styled “Good Samaritan Movement.”
When a group of vacationing college students pulled Patrick Heelen from the wreckage of a one-car crash on the night of Dec. 29, 2011, they may have saved more than one life.
Moved by the kindness of the strangers who rescued him, Heelen plans to lead a self-styled “Good Samaritan Movement” on Feb. 11 on the grounds of Ag Heritage Park in Alta Vista, Kansas, where he hopes to encourage “at least 1,000 people to commit a random act of kindness,” according to a press statement issued today.
Heelen, an Alta Vista resident, was vacationing with his family at the Stowe Mountain Resort in Vermont – but alone in his car when it skidded off a back road near the resort. The accident occurred around 1 a.m. and “there wasn’t another car in sight,” he noted.
“My leg was broken, I had no cell phone and let me tell you, that road was pretty dark,” Patrick Heelen said. “If those kids hasn’t come along and helped me out, I might still be stuck there.”
Heelen’s rental car had hit an icy patch and slammed into a tree, breaking his left leg in two places and “basically pinning me between the door, the airbag and the bent dashboard,” he said. He’s not sure if he blacked out, Heelen added, but he’s certain he sat immobilized in the freezing car “for at least 90 minutes” before headlights appeared on the road behind him.
“They could have kept going, but they stopped,” Patrick Heelen said. “They got me out of the car and called 911, but then they decided to just drive me to the hospital themselves.”
“He was clearly in pain, and I think he was a little disoriented,” noted Michael Fridman, one of the four Boston University underclassmen who happened upon Heelen and sprang to his rescue. “I didn’t think we should wait for an ambulance, so we called 911 back told them we were taking him right to the hospital.”
Heelen spent the better part of the last month recuperating at Copley Hospital in Morrisville, Vermont, where three screws were placed in his broken leg. Upon returning home to Alta Vista on Jan. 23, the manager of a small chain of organic grocery stores decided to return the kindness shown him by Fridman and his classmates by organizing his “Good Samaritan Movement.”
“I hope 10,000 people come,” Patrick Heelen said. “I hope a million come. But if I can tell 1,000 people about what those kids did for me and get them to do 1,000 nice things for other people, then I’ll be extremely gratified.”
Heelen’s event should not be confused with the “Good Samaritan Movement” that gathered Jan. 29 in New York City’s Union Square Park, a function of the World Mission Society Church of God. That event, which launched World Mission Society’s Food of Life food-donation campaign, shares a sentiment with Heelen’s event, but little else.
Neighbors of Patrick Heelen and his wife of 14 years, Catherine, are not surprised the family would be involved in a kindness-spreading movement.
“They’re wonderful people,” said Stacey Blackley, who lived across the road from the Heelens for 10 years. “I’m very close with Catherine, and Patrick is always out mowing his lawn or kicking the ball around with his kids and my kids. At barbecues and school plays, they’re just the nicest family, and it makes perfect sense that Patrick Heelen would try to inspire others to be nice and help others.”
The Alta Vista “Good Samaritan Movement” is scheduled to begin at noon Feb. 11, according to the press statement, and all are invited to attend.
“Those boys might have saved my life,” Patrick Heelen said. “I am forever in their debt, and it seems to me the best way to repay them is to spread their kindness to someone else. These are the traits that make a person a human being.”
About Patrick Heelen
Patrick Heelen, 44, is the owner and manager of a chain of organic markets in the Topeka, Kansas region. He lives in Alta Vista, Kansas, with his wife of 14 years, Catherine, and their two children. A major college basketball fan and regular churchgoer, Patrick Heelen enjoys skiing and stamp collecting, and is an avid fan of baroque music.
