Sarah Ford | June 2, 2015

Getting Your Eyes off Yourself

Several years ago, Sara Tucholsky of Western Oregon University smacked her first home run in her college career with two runners on base in a playoff game against Central Washington University. While rounding the bases, she missed first base. As she started back to tag it, she collapsed with a knee injury. All she could do was crawl back to first, and if her teammates helped her, she would be called out.

Central Washington first baseman Mallory Holtman reportedly asked the umpire if she and her teammates could help Tucholsky. The umpire said yes, so Holtman and shortstop Liz Wallace put their arms under Tucholsky鈥檚 legs, and Tucholsky put her arms over their shoulders. The three rounded the bases, stopping only to let Tucholsky touch each bag with her uninjured leg.

鈥淭he only thing I remember is that Mallory asked me which leg was the one that hurt,鈥 Tucholsky said in a story from FOX Sports on MSN. 鈥淚 told her it was my right leg and she said, 鈥極K, we鈥檙e going to drop you down gently and you need to touch it with your left leg.鈥欌 Added Wallace: 鈥淲e didn鈥檛 know that she was a senior or that this was her first home run. That makes the story more touching than it was.

We just wanted to help her.鈥 Holtman told FOX Sports that she and Wallace weren鈥檛 thinking about the playoff spot, and didn鈥檛 consider the gesture something special. 鈥淚 hope I would do the same for her in the same situation,鈥 Tucholsky said.

Kindness is defined as demonstrating a gentle, sympathetic attitude towards others, and it is a rare quality. That鈥檚 what makes stories like that one so unique.

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