SECURITY GUARD
BORROWED MONEY TO HELP STRANGER CATCH FLIGHT
Asecurity guard who borrowed money so that he could help a total stranger get to the Norman Manley International Airport (NMIA) in time to catch a flight is being hailed for his generosity.
Jason Evans, a Jamaican who lives in Canada, said he was in danger of catching his flight to Canada after he found himself without sufficient cash to pay the toll on the Portmore leg of Highway 2000. He had just checked at the ATM at Portmore Pines plaza, only to realise it was not working. With insufficient cash in his pocket and his midday check-in time not being far away, Evans sat in his car hoping for a miracle.
“I only had some coins on me, which wasn’t enough. I didn’t know the route through Mandela Highway, and that in itself would have been time consuming,”
Evans said.
Evans said that he approached an Hawkeye security guard, Junior Song Hue, and asked him for $150 to assist with paying the toll.
“When I asked him he said he really wanted to help but he really didn’t have any money. He then told me to hold on, and he went inside a building and then I saw him coming out with the brightest smile on his face. He then handed me a $500 note. He went and borrowed that money to give me,” Evans said.
KIND GESTURE
In publicly thanking Song Hue, Evans said he would be sending him $50,000 as a token of appreciation for his kind gesture, as without the help, he would have missed his flight. “The lines at the toll booth were long and I just kept telling myself I wasn’t going to make it in time. I had to drop off the rental vehicle that I was driving on Old Hope Road and wait for a family member to take me to the airport,” Evans said. “I want to thank him from the bottom of my heart because in this pandemic, persons are holding on tight to their money, and to know that he borrowed to help me is more than a blessing,” Evans added.
For his part, the security guard said that he has always been motivated to help people who are in need. “I don’t expect anything in return. A stranger had done the same for one of our athletes and he struck gold, I never expect any of this at all. I am just a kind person by nature,” he said.
The security guard’s reference was to the actions of a Japanese woman who gave money to Hansel Parchment to pay his taxi fare to the stadium where he was due to compete. Parchment, who eventually won the gold medal in the final of the 110-metres hurdles, had taken the wrong bus and was in danger of missing his semi-final race.
In the case of Evans, he reached the departure lounge at NMIA just in time to make his flight,
“When I reached upstairs at the airport they were about to begin calling persons from a particular zone, so honestly, if it wasn’t for this kind stranger, I would have missed my flight,” he said.