Joann Moschella has been biking the steep streets of San Francisco since the late 1980s.
"The insanity of the hills, not to mention the relentless westerly winds that bring the fog, are not the real danger, though they are a challenge," Moschella said. "Everyone who rides a bike in a big city knows that the real danger is other cars."
About eight years ago, Moschella was reminded of this risk. She was biking the mile-long commute from her workplace to a station of the local subway system, known as BART. When she was a block away, a car cut into the bike lane. Moschella veered to the right.
"[I] was about to congratulate myself on avoiding a collision, but the car clipped my rear tire," Moschella recalled. "I went down so quickly I was still gripping the handlebars when my helmet hit the ground, then my face met the pavement and a big gash opened above one eye."
Luckily, Moschella didn't lose consciousness, and she was able to move herself and her bike to the sidewalk. Her glasses had fallen off during the collision, and she started to look for them.
Just then, a young man approached her. He was wearing a furry lavender bunny suit and riding an electric unicycle.
"Are you OK? Can I help you?" she recalled the young man asking.
"Stunned by the impact, I thought to myself, 'Wow, when you die in San Francisco, you're greeted by a spirit animal,'" Moschella said.
After realizing the man in the bunny suit was in fact real, Moschella asked if he could help find her glasses.
"We turned, and there they were in the middle of the intersection. He made a high-pitch sound of triumph and moved to retrieve them, but as he did so, a big truck ran them over and they exploded into a dozen pieces," Moschella said.
The young man gathered the pieces of the broken glasses and returned them to Moschella. He then asked if she required an ambulance.
"I'm a physician, and I had already checked myself out," Moschella said. "No broken bones. Head wounds can bleed abundantly, but I could tell it was not a dangerous cut. I just wanted to get home."
She asked if he could help her get to BART, and he agreed. Together, they walked and limped to the station, and he sent her on her way.
"The delight of the young man in the bunny suit coming to my rescue affirmed everything I love about San Francisco: the kindness, the spontaneous spirit of community and the freedom to dress like a lavender bunny in broad daylight," Moschella said.
My Unsung Hero is also a podcast — new episodes are released every Tuesday. To share the story of your unsung hero with the Hidden Brain team, record a voice memo on your phone and send it to myunsunghero@hiddenbrain.org.
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