A video of a man helping an elderly woman went viral. Here’s what he hopes it inspires.

A video of J.R. Brown stopping traffic to help an elderly woman cross a busy Abilene street has gone viral on social media.  

“I see somebody that I think needs help, I stop and help,” Brown said.

She needed help

While waiting last week at the stoplight at South Willis Street, Brown spotted the woman starting to cross South 14th Street. 

"She was all humped over and taking real short steps. It was taking her a long time to get across the first lane and she had three more lanes to cross, actually four more lanes to cross," Brown said. 

He drove his truck into the right lane of South 14th Street, parked it and turned on his flasher lights. Traffic came to a standstill in both lanes.  

“I walked up to her and grabbed her by the arm and actually startled her. I said, ‘Where you going, young lady?’ ‘I’m going to go get me some chicken.'

"I said, 'Well, let’s go.'"

Traffic comes to a standstill

Other drivers immediately took notice. 

“Everybody seen what I was doing and knew what I was doing so everybody stopped. Nobody moved again until I got back into my pickup," Brown said. "Everybody gave me thumb's up, said ‘Thank you, God bless you.' I even got a couple of cat calls from a couple of girls.

"Kind of made me blush.”

Melissa Dee Smith of Abilene was a couple of vehicles behind Smith's truck when she recorded the moment on her phone. 

"I just grabbed my phone real quick and recorded it because I thought, 'We just don't see that anymore. It was just really sweet. I wanted to get out, honesty, and give him a round of applause," Smith said.

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Brown is getting a round of applause on social media after Smith posted the video on her Facebook page, calling him a "true gentleman." The video has since been shared more than 640 times. 

Uplifting moment

At the time, Brown was on his way to pick up equipment for his employer, PetroSmith, where he has worked for 30 years. 

Smith said the moment made her day a little better. At the time she was on her way to Starbucks for coffee before heading to work at Denny's.  

"It kind of gave me a little bit of faith. The world's not as bad as I thought it was. There's still nice people and good people in the world," Smith said. "If we'd get off our phones and slow down for just a second and be nice and kind to someone else, it makes the world a better place."

Brown believes what he did was not extraordinary, but he hopes it inspires others to help three groups special to him: veterans, the elderly and children. 

“I think a lot of that happens, I just don’t think people see it enough. I think it's something people need to see more of,” Brown said about his random act of kindness.

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