Strangers to each other, 2 employees take action on Stockton Blvd.

Usually research coordinator Vanessa Sanchez walked the same way to her car after work. But one evening in January, for some reason, she headed for the shuttle instead.

As she neared the staff parking structure by the Medical Center, she saw a man fall from his wheelchair. He lay on his side near Stockton Blvd., close to oncoming commuter traffic.

She ran over. At first he was yelling something about being pushed, though Sanchez hadn’t seen anyone else in the area. His belongings were scattered across the paved entrance to the garage. From his appearance, she believed the man was likely unhoused.

Sanchez offered to call 911. The man appeared to be in pain and was too heavy for her to lift alone. He wore a catheter bag, and she wasn’t sure how to safely disentangle it from the wheelchair. But he refused, and eventually quieted down. He asked her name. He worried aloud that she might need to hurry home to her family and asked if she had children. She said no and stayed with him, still unsure how to proceed. A stream of cars crept by.

Another detour

A few blocks away, Alisha Solis was also taking a different route home. She rarely drove on the freeway, but that night she turned toward Highway 50 and inched forward in traffic. She spotted a colleague and a man on his side. She thought, “I’m still three lights away from them. Surely someone will pull over and help by the time I get there.”

No one else stopped, so Solis pulled off Stockton Blvd. and into the garage driveway. She jumped out and immediately offered to lift the man back into his wheelchair. As a medical assistant for ACC Family Medicine, Solis was used to safely assisting patients.

Relieved, Sanchez steadied the wheelchair while Solis used her training to reposition the man and his catheter bag.

I felt deeply about it. She was so helpful and kind.”—Vanessa Sanchez, Research Coordinator, Transplant Center

“We just kind of took our time with him so he wouldn't feel rushed,” said Solis. “We talked to him and tried to see if there's anything else we could do to help.”

When he asked for a bag, Solis pulled one from her trunk. Together, they packed up his belongings, most of which were blankets. She shared some UC Davis Health resources he could use in the future.

Before they left, the man reached for a hug. Sanchez gave him one.

“Hugs!” said Solis, offered one too.

A lasting impression

As Solis got into her car, Sanchez asked for her first name, noting her dark green scrubs.

The following week, still moved by the stranger who had stopped to help, Sanchez wrote in about the experience. “Usually I’m super shy. I don’t like attention,” she said. “But I felt deeply about it. She was so helpful and kind.”

After a short search, we were able to identify Alisha Solis and arranged a reunion at the ACC Café on a sunny Thursday afternoon.

“I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t stopped,” Sanchez told her.

She asked whether Solis had taken the employee training about living UC Davis Health’s values of Kindness, Trust and Inclusion. One of her takeaways was that if someone asks for help, don’t say “I don’t know.” Instead say, “I’ll help you find out.”

By stopping her car during rush hour traffic, Solis was doing exactly that.

Any other day, neither woman would have been on that street at that exact moment. They might never have met. It was fate, they both agreed.

The Small Dose, Big Impact series recognizes employees who take the extra step, however tiny, to make meaningful connections with patients. Better health takes more than health care. Believe in better.

Visit our Believe in Better Moments landing page to read additional stories about team members providing fantastic care to our patients.