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Delivery Driver Walks Through Snowstorm After Crash To Help Cancer Patient

January 23, 2025

Today's good news story comes from Springdale, Arkansas.

When Brooke Kochel placed a same-day Walmart order for heaters during a snowstorm, she never imagined it would lead to a life-changing friendship.

Brooke and Eduardo / 5NEWS

Brooke and her husband, Charles, who is battling colon cancer and undergoing chemotherapy, lost heat in their home as temperatures plummeted. Desperate to keep Charles warm, Brooke relied on a Spark delivery to bring the heaters they urgently needed.

However, Eduardo Garcia, the delivery driver assigned to her order, encountered an unexpected challenge.

"The app kept saying he was two minutes away, and then 30 minutes later, it said he's two minutes away. I finally called and I said, 'Are you lost?' And he's like, 'I'm actually in a ditch. I'm not gonna be able to make it,'" Brooke said.

During conversation, Brooke mentioned that the heaters were for her husband who is going though chemotherapy treatment. Garcia then insisted he would walk the delivery to Kochel.

"I told him, 'I wouldn't have asked you to do this,'" Brooke recalled. "He said, 'No, we can do this. Let's do it. It'll just be six minutes each. We'll walk really fast.'"

Garcia trudged through the snow to meet Brooke partway. Together, they completed the delivery on foot, ensuring Charles could stay warm during his treatment. Touched by Garcia’s kindness, Brooke offered him a big tip, only to discover there was no option for tipping through the delivery app.

Refusing to let the moment pass, Brooke took to Facebook to find Garcia, whom she only knew as “Eduardo” with a nickname she thought was “Shorty.” Her heartfelt video quickly gained traction, garnering thousands of views and shares. Within 24 hours, Eduardo reached out to her.

But Garcia refused any money.

"He's like, 'No, no, no, that's not happening'," Brooke shared. "He said, 'I've gone through hard things in my life, and you know, at this moment, I was able to do something for someone else.'"

Instead of accepting a tip, he made a heartfelt proposal.

"He said, 'Okay, I will do this, if you promise me, I can meet your husband and our families can meet and that we will stay friends and that we can walk through this journey with you'," Brooke said.

Now, the Kochel and Garcia families are forging a deep bond built on compassion and community during one of life’s toughest challenges.