Jackie Briggs had a rose-shaped birthmark on her higher arm. One day a stranger seen it and requested a query in regards to the mark that ended up saving Briggs’ life.
Jackie Briggs
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Jackie Briggs
Jackie Briggs had a rose-shaped birthmark on her higher arm. One day a stranger seen it and requested a query in regards to the mark that ended up saving Briggs’ life.
Jackie Briggs
This story is a part of the My Unsung Hero sequence, from the Hidden Brain crew, about folks whose kindness left a long-lasting impression on another person.
In 2006, Jackie Briggs was working 60 hours every week at a high-pressure IT job. One Saturday afternoon, she determined to take a while for herself and go to a ladies’s well being convention. As she was strolling round totally different cubicles, somebody approached her.
“This beautiful dark-haired lady got here as much as me and he or she stated, ‘Excuse me, however I can not assist however discover your arm,'” Briggs remembers.
That day, Briggs had uncharacteristically determined to put on a sleeveless gown, leaving a rose-shaped birthmark on her higher arm uncovered. The lady requested Briggs if she had seen a dermatologist in regards to the birthmark, and when Briggs assured her that she had, the stranger endured.
“She pressed me and stated, ‘When?’ I needed to cease to assume. I counted again … and it had been over three years.”
After the convention, Briggs noticed a physician about her birthmark and came upon it was truly pores and skin most cancers. She had it eliminated and now has a six-inch scar that she says serves as a reminder of her “guardian angel” who requested urged her to have her arm checked out.
Jackie Briggs
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Jackie Briggs
When the girl heard how lengthy it had been, she urged Briggs to name her physician. After explaining that she was a nurse at a plastic surgeon’s workplace, she gently reached out and touched Briggs’ arm. “Really, do not wait,” she stated.
When Briggs adopted up together with her dermatologist, she realized that the girl had saved her life. It turned out that the birthmark was truly a melanoma – one of many fastest-moving and deadliest varieties of pores and skin cancers.
“If I hadn’t listened to her, I in all probability would not be right here,” Briggs stated.
Briggs underwent surgical procedure and had the melanoma eliminated. She’s now fortunately retired and simply completed writing her first novel. Her unsung hero, she stated, saved her life.
“My six-inch ragged scar that travels virtually from the highest of my shoulders down my arm is my on a regular basis reminder of her… my guardian angel,” she stated.
My Unsung Hero can be a podcast — new episodes are launched each Tuesday and Thursday. To share the story of your unsung hero with the Hidden Brain crew, report a voice memo in your cellphone and ship it to myunsunghero@hiddenbrain.org.