“I'm not a deeply religious person, but it makes you think there's a lot of good in people. There was definitely someone watching out for me that day.”  

Rusty Dunn, Oregon resident 

EPHRATA — When Kathy and Wes Ballard stopped at a truck pullout along Interstate 80 in Wyoming during a trip home from visiting family, they expected nothing more than a short break for their dogs. 

Instead, they found themselves helping a stranger in distress. 

On June 1, the Ephrata couple encountered Rusty Dunn, a Redmond, Oregon, resident who was suffering severe pain while driving home from a family trip in South Dakota. Unable to continue driving, Dunn had pulled his recently purchased 1984 Volkswagen Westphalia van off the highway and was trying to rest when the Ballards noticed something was wrong. Dunn, 75, does not own a cell phone. 

“We were getting back in the car, and Rusty got out of the van, and he looked bad,” Kathy Ballard said. “Wes started talking to him for a minute and then signaled for me to get out of the car. He said, ‘Call 911.’” 

Ballard said Dunn readily agreed when asked whether he wanted emergency assistance. 

“I don’t know if you are married or not, but that's a great indicator that a man is sick if they agree to go to the hospital,” she said. 

Using her cell phone, Ballard called 911 but could not identify their exact location along the interstate. 

“I said, ‘I don't know where we are. We're on I-80, we're in Wyoming, but I don't know where we are,’” Ballard said. “The dispatcher said, ‘Nope, I got you.’ She pinged me on my phone. That’s what really needs to be highlighted is that technology.” 

Emergency responders eventually arrived from nearby communities and transported Dunn by ambulance to Carbon County Memorial Hospital in Rawlins. 

What happened next is what Dunn remembers most. 

Because Dunn was traveling alone and no one knew how long he would remain in the hospital, the Ballards decided to take his van to Rawlins as well. 

“My husband got in his Volkswagen van, and I got in our truck, and we went back to Rawlins and dropped his car off for him,” Ballard said. “He would have had no way to get it.” 

The decision added roughly an hour and a half to their trip home, but Ballard said neither she nor her husband thought twice about it. 

“It was the right thing to do,” she said. “We couldn't leave him there. We had to help.” 

After arriving at the hospital, the couple left the van, keys and their contact information with hospital staff before continuing toward Washington. 

Dunn later learned he was suffering from a kidney stone. After receiving treatment, he was able to continue his journey home. 

Looking back, Dunn said he is overwhelmed by the kindness the Ballards showed a complete stranger. Dunn, who is older, and not comfortable with technology, used a phone book and began calling around to cities in the area, asking if they knew the Ballards. He got a hold of Ephrata City Clerk Rob Miller, who confirmed the Ballard's were Ephrata city residents. Dunn then reached out to the Ballard's, almost a month later, thanking them. 

“Thank you from the bottom of my being,” Dunn said. “I can't believe my good fortune with people like that.” 

Dunn said it was only after the crisis had passed that he fully realized how much trust he had placed in two people he had just met. 

“They could have gone anyplace with that van,” he said. “I never saw them again after I handed over the keys.” 

Instead, the Ballards delivered the vehicle safely to the hospital and left their contact information so he could retrieve it. 

Dunn said the experience reinforced his faith in others. 

“I'm not a deeply religious person, but it makes you think there's a lot of good in people,” he said. “There was definitely someone watching out for me that day.”  

For the Ballards, however, their actions were nothing extraordinary. 

“We didn't question it,” Ballard said. “We didn't debate it. Should we? Shouldn't we? You just do the right thing.” 

Ballard hopes the story serves as a reminder that simple acts of kindness can make a significant difference when someone is vulnerable. 

“Anybody can be put in that situation,” she said. “You just help. That's what you do.” 

A month later, Dunn is still searching for a way to properly thank the couple who stopped on a lonely stretch of Wyoming highway and turned a frightening medical emergency into a story of compassion. He said he would like to plan a trip to Ephrata to buy the couple dinner for their kindness.  

As for the Ballards, they remain humble about their role. 

“I'm glad we were there,” Ballard said. “I'm glad it was us that was there. But I hope that if anyone was in our shoes, they would have done the same thing.”