LOWELL -- Ruth Corbin traveled to Northwest Arkansas from her home in Louisiana last month on a somber errand -- to have a last visit with her dying sister.
After flying into the regional airport, she rented a car and began driving. But she didn't get far.
"All of a sudden there was a car stopped right in front of me," Corbin said Monday.
The rental car Corbin was driving collided with another car on Arkansas 264 in Lowell and was totaled, just a few miles from the airport. She was stranded and confused. Worse, she was still three hours from her destination, Mountain Home.
"I'm 82 and something like that just throws me for a loop," Corbin said. "I was just very nervous and upset."
Lowell patrol officer Grant Hall arrived soon after the accident, he said. He drove Corbin back to the airport and stayed while she talked to the rental car company, then left.
Corbin said she realized she was too upset to drive the rest of the way.
"I just walked around the airport and thought and thought, 'What should I do,'" Corbin said.
A few weeks prior, Corbin had received a picture of her sister a nephew sent.
"It was just so shocking," Corbin said. "It just broke my heart. She is 92 years old and started having problems."
Corbin said her sister had lost weight and was not always responding to people when they talked to her.
"I love her so much," Corbin said. "We were always really close until she got to the point where she couldn't live on her own, so she went to live with her daughter in Mountain Home. We didn't have the opportunity to see her after that. It has been a couple of years since I saw her last."
It wasn't long after Corbin received the picture that her son offered to pay for her trip to Arkansas. However, sitting in the airport alone, Corbin said she was unsure how the trip would end.
Hall went off duty shortly after the accident. He went home but couldn't forget about Corbin.
He had a phone number for her family and decided to call. "They said they were having trouble contacting her on her cellphone," he said.
Hall said he decided to make a trip back to the airport.
"Something kept telling me to check on her," Hall said. "She was stranded there. I would want someone to do it for my family."
It was about 7 p.m. when Hall found Corbin at the airport.
"I looked up all of a sudden and saw this guy coming toward me and he looked familiar," Corbin said. "I about dropped my teeth."
Corbin said she asked if Hall could take her to a hotel, but he refused.
"He said, 'I'm not taking you to a hotel, I'm taking you to Mountain Home, Ark.,'" Corbin said. "I almost fainted."
Hall and another officer, Sgt. Kris Spangler, drove Corbin nearly three hours to her niece's house. Hall took his car and declined Corbin's offer to pay for gasoline.
Corbin said it was about 1:30 a.m. the next day before Hall arrived back home.
"I hugged them as much as I could and thanked them," Corbin said.
Hall's compassion gave Corbin more time with her sister, she said. She believes it's likely her sister will die before she can make another visit.
Her sister did not recognize her for several days, Corbin said.
"When she did, oh, my goodness, chills went all over me and I hugged her real close," Corbin said. "It was a wonderfully rewarding experience for me because I got to see her one more time."
Lowell police Lt. Paul Pillaro said Hall went out of his way to help Corbin, who sent a letter to the department telling his supervisors about his actions.
"It says a lot about him," Pillaro said. "He didn't get anything out of it. He wouldn't even take money for gas."
Corbin said she will never forget Hall's help. It is the kindest thing anyone has ever done for her, she said.
Metro on 08/25/2015