At the very last moment, I signed the consent forms and underwent the surgery myself.

The doctor said I was fortunate—just a mild concussion and a broken collarbone.

By contrast, another person who came to the hospital with me didn’t survive.

Later, when the traffic police came to get the details, I learned that if not for the kind stranger who pulled me back, I would be lying in the morgue instead.

“We’ve detained the drunk driver. The person who saved you had late-stage lung cancer; even if revived, he wouldn’t have lived long. It’s tragic for the girl they left behind, suffering a bereft of home and family at...