While driving near her home in Arkansas, Alicia Edrington saw an unusual sight that forced her to do a double-take: a man was riding his bike along the side of the road, pulling a small cart behind him. The 24-year-old tried to drive on, but something just wasn’t sitting right with her. So, Alicia decided to investigate. She circled back, knowing full well that approaching a stranger on the side of the road likely wasn’t a good idea. As she made her way toward the man, she suddenly realized what he was dragging behind him in the cart—and her heart broke.
Sometimes we witness something that we just can’t ignore. Whether it’s a person or animal in trouble, we know it’s our duty to do everything we can to help. That was the case for Arkansas’s Alicia Edrington one day. The 24-year-old was a mother, so she had a keen sense of when something was amiss. In 2015, Alicia exhibited that exact intuition when she came across an odd sight while driving near her home. It was a man.
He seemed homeless, and he was stopped along the busy highway just inches from oncoming traffic. He appeared to be performing maintenance on his bicycle, which was attached to a small cart. Most concerning, however, was what was on top of that cart… Sitting atop the trailer were multiple small dogs. As Alicia drove by, she felt her senses on high alert. She pulled over and called her father for his opinion on how to respond.
Although both believed it could be risky, they ultimately decided she should offer the man some help. Alicia managed to circle back and approach the man. After she politely asked him about his situation and the dogs he was carrying, Alicia learned his name was Steve and that he was currently on his way to a friend’s home in Indiana.
