We've all had those mornings. But Friday morning was a particularly important day for 17-year-old Bailey Wright because it was the day that she had an interview for a Rotary Club college scholarship. Unfortunately, it was also the day that she overslept by an hour.
Wright, who attends Nettleton High School in Jonesboro, Arkansas, hurried to get ready and rushed out the door only for her day to turn from bad to worse when she pulled up to a stop light and her car "just stopped" as the result of a broken fuel pump, KARK-TV reported.
“People were not happy with me at that intersection. Some people were giving me the finger, some people were giving me the fist, but I kept trying to tell people to go around," Wright told KAIT-TV of her stressful morning. That's when she called her mother, Billie Wright, for help.
Billie Wright said Bailey was "frantically crying" when she called.
"And I am freaking out thinking 'oh my God what's wrong,' " Billie Wright said.
Before she knew it, though, Jonesboro police Officer Danny Stallings arrived on the scene, ready and willing to help.
“He was like, ‘Hey, what are you doing?’ I was like my car, it doesn't want to work. I can't do this," Bailey Wright recalled of her initial exchange with Stallings.
Stallings pushed Bailey's car to the side of the road and waited with her for her mom to arrive. In the meantime, Bailey told the officer about her scholarship interview at 8:30 a.m. To Bailey's relief, Stallings volunteered to go above and beyond the call of duty.
After Billie arrived, she said the officer told her, "'Just get her [Bailey] to school, I'll take care of her stuff, I'll watch the car, just leave the keys with me.'"
It was in that moment that Bailey said she realized "Jesus got me."
“It's all good because Jesus got me," she said.
So Billie rushed Bailey to her scholarship interview while Stalling stayed with Bailey's broken down car. The 17-year-old even arrived for her Rotary Club scholarship interview at 8:20 a.m. — 10 minutes early. Not only was Bailey early. She found out later that she won the scholarship.
In a "shoutout" to Stallings on Facebook, the Jonesboro Police Department said Friday that Billie called them to thank Stallings for his help.
“He probably has a lot more things to be dealing with instead of a 17-year-old who doesn't know how to work a car," Bailey acknowledged.
"Just thank you for being patient and kind enough to help me when I needed it the most," the proud recipient of the Rotary Club scholarship added.
