Justin Downey had a choice — change his life or die. At 16, he was addicted to heroin. In his 20s, he was in and out of prison. While serving a three-year sentence, Justin’s kids were taken into state custody. He knew he had to become a new man for his family and for himself. Getting clean was the first step. But he also had to find purpose, community and a way to support himself.

Margo Walsh started drinking when she was 15. By the time she graduated from college, she was an alcoholic. After she got sober, she founded MaineWorks — a company that helps people with substance issues and felony convictions reintegrate into society. There, Justin found what he needed.

We also speak with Nancy Dauphinais, a licensed mental health counselor and addiction professional, about the signs someone is struggling with substance use and how to support them.

Visit me-what-happened-podcastonstar.com/why-onstar">onstar.com/why-onstar to learn more about the benefits of being an OnStar Member and why Better Never Stops when you're connected by OnStar.

On September 11, 2001, Stanley Praimnath went to work on the 81st floor of the south tower of the World Trade Center, same as he always did. When a plane struck the north tower, Stanley and many others began their evacuation. But when he reached the lobby, he was told his building was safe and to return to work. He was back in his office minutes later when a plane hit the south tower and tore through his floor.

Brian Clark’s office was three floors up from Stanley on the 84th floor. When the tower was hit, Brian and a few of his co-workers headed to the stairwell to escape. When they reached the 81st floor, Brian heard a voice crying out for help. 

We also speak with NYFD firefighter Regina Wilson about how to prepare for an evacuation in the office or at home.

Visit onstar.com/features/crisis-help to learn more about how OnStar can help Members when crisis hits.

In April 2023, Liv Titor visited Dreamtime beach on Australia's Gold Coast. What happened to her that day felt like a nightmare. After a quick swim, Liv walked out onto a sandbar beside some rocks. Then she felt a pull at her legs and fell into the water. Liv stepped into a rip current that quickly pulled her out to sea towards massive waves and jagged rocks. 

John Gordon, a local surfer, was making the most of the big swells at the beach when he saw Liv get swept away. He knew if he didn’t act quick, she would drown so he ran into the ocean, hopped on his surfboard and paddled towards the deadly current with the hopes of rescuing a stranger.

We also speak with Kelsey Cummings, a lifeguard with the California Surf Life Saving Association to talk about ocean safety.

Visit me-what-happened-podcastwww.onstar.com/features/crisis-help">onstar.com/features/crisis-help to learn more about how OnStar can help Members in a moment of crisis.

Lani Williams and her mother, Sincerity, could smell smoke, but that wasn’t rare on Maui. Brush fires happen with some regularity. This fire, they quickly learned, was different. 

Five hundred miles to the south, Hurricane Dora had kicked up unusually troublesome winds. In Lahaina, Hawaii, where Lani and Sincerity lived, those winds downed power lines and whipped sparks into a full-blown wildfire that was closing in on them. They tried to escape the blaze by car, but the main roads were either closed or blocked by a crush of panicked drivers trying to leave town. They were stuck between the fire on one side and the ocean on the other.

Benny Reinicke smelled smoke that morning too and found himself in the same logjam of frightened drivers desperately trying to flee Lahaina. Amidst smoke and flames and exploding cars, he spotted Lani struggling to help her mom climb the seawall and get to safety. He took it upon himself to make sure they made it.

We also speak with wildfire expert Michele Steinberg from the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) about how you can identify hazards and strategies to help protect against wildfires.

If you’d like to help the residents of Lahaina and others impacted by natural disasters, you can donate to the American Red Cross at pub.html/">redcross.org/donate/cm/onstar-pub.html/

Visit me-what-happened-podcastwww.onstar.com/why-onstar">onstar.com/why-onstar to learn more about the benefits of being an OnStar Member and why Better Never Stops when you're connected by OnStar.

Bob Tillotson knew the avalanche danger was high when he set out with friends into the Utah backcountry on his snowmobile. But he also knew which areas to avoid. Or so he thought. On January 13, 2024, an avalanche hit Bob without warning, carrying him down the mountain in a wave of snow. When he stopped, he was completely buried and separated from his group.

Dustin Sweeten was snowmobiling with a separate crew that day. Just before he was ready to head home, he saw what looked like an avalanche in the distance and went to go check it out. When he got there, he saw two people from Bob’s group. They told him their friend was buried. Then they saw a glove poking out of the snow. 

We also speak with Sandra Riches, the executive director of British Columbia AdventureSmart, about outdoor winter safety and what to do if you or someone you’re with is in an avalanche.

Visit onstar.com/features/crisis-help to learn more about how OnStar can help Members in a moment of crisis.

Video credit: Ammon Sweeten / YouTube @MountainWolf-ut.

When Gabriel Otrin and Klever Freire stepped into their office elevator, they naturally assumed they’d be able to get out. It was August 2018, and a massive downpour was causing floods all over Toronto. Gabriel and Klever were working late and went to check on Klever’s car in the basement garage. Before they reached the bottom, however, the elevator stopped with a jerk and began to quickly fill with water. They couldn’t open the doors. They were trapped.

Police officers Ryan Barnett and Josh McSweeney had just finished a call when another came over the radio. Two men were trapped in an elevator. When they arrived, the garage was completely flooded and Ryan had to swim to the elevator doors. He could hear Klever and Gabriel inside calling for help. He needed to act fast.

We also speak with Julie Munger, an internationally acclaimed swift-water rescue instructor, about how to safely navigate fast-moving water and urban floods.

Visit onstar.com/features/crisis-help to learn more about how OnStar can help Members in a moment of crisis.

Nicole Rakowski arrived in Iceland looking for adventure. She left in a wheelchair. In February 2017, Nicole and two friends hiked to a natural hot spring just south of Reykjavík. When they arrived, Nicole took off her boots, changed into her bathing suit and stepped onto the riverbank beside the steaming water. She immediately began to sink into the mud and felt excruciating pain. She screamed for help. 

Lee Ricasa was taking a relaxing dip in a nearby mud pool when he heard a scream followed by the sight of panicked hikers carrying Nicole and desperately searching for help. A retired firefighter, Lee knew Nicole was in bad shape. She had third-degree burns on her legs and feet. She couldn’t walk. She was drifting in and out of consciousness and could go into shock at any moment. He knew he had to take control of the situation if Nicole was going to survive.

We also talk to Tod Schimelpfenig, an instructor at the National Outdoor Leadership School since 1973, about how to treat burns in the wilderness.

Visit onstar.com/why-onstar to learn more about the benefits of being an OnStar Member and why Better Never Stops when you're connected by OnStar.

Tell Me What Happened — the award-winning podcast about people helping people — is returning this March!

We’re hard at work on Season 4 and have more incredible, heart-pounding stories to share with you about complete strangers stepping in to help someone in need.  This series is produced by OnStar. They are committed to keeping you safe and so are we. Each episode features an expert with helpful tips for all sorts of situations. As always, every story has a happy ending and celebrates the power of a true human connection. Join us for this exciting and heartwarming journey.

In 1941, in Kharkiv, Ukraine, the Bogancha family saved two young Jewish girls from Nazi soldiers, giving them fake identities and hiding them in an orphanage. That act of kindness would ripple across time and, amazingly, lead to the help their descendants needed after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.

Connecting those dates begins with a book. In 2009, Greg Dawson published Hiding in the Spotlight, a book about his mother, Zhanna Arshanskaya Dawson. She was a 14 year-old piano prodigy in 1941 when German soldiers rounded up her family along with the rest of the Jews in her Ukrainian town. Miraculously, Zhanna and her sister, Frina, escaped and found temporary shelter with the Boganchas. With new identities, they survived by playing concerts for German soldiers. After the war, they emigrated to the United States and started over.

In 2013, Marina Orlovetsky, also from Kharkiv, Ukraine, read Greg’s book. She was so moved by the story that she tracked down and befriended Zhanna, Greg and the descendants of the Boganchas. 

When Russia invaded Ukraine in 2023, the Boganchas fled their home in Kharkiv. 

Marina, who had never met the Boganchas in person, offered to help their 18-year-old son, Alex, get to the United States and go to college. Marina turns to Zhanna’s son, Greg, offering the Dawsons the opportunity to return a kindness to the Boganchas. 

We also speak with Una Bilic, a deputy director with the International Rescue Committee, to discuss the process refugees go through to move to the U.S. and how we can support them.

We are conducting a survey to learn more about our listeners and we want to hear from you.What do you like about the show? What would you like to hear more of? Let us know at www.tmwh.clubYou can also vote for your favorite episode of Season 3 and we’ll rebroadcast the winner with extended audio that will make it even more compelling!

When her crowded New York City subway train screeched to an emergency stop, K.Page Stuart Valdes melted in fear. She’d recently had a stroke nobody could explain. Terrified it would happen again, right there surrounded by strangers, K.Page felt anxiety wash over her. Until one warm voice cut through the fog. 

That stranger, just another face on a train moments before, helped K.Page find her way out of the panic attack and get on with her day. Then the stranger was gone. But her kindness was critical and helped K.Page realize that she needed mental health support. 

Today, K.Page would love nothing more than to find the woman who stepped up and steadied her world. Please share this episode and let’s see if we can find her. 

We also speak with Natalia Dayan, a licensed social worker and the global strategy director at Crisis Text Line, a nonprofit organization that provides free, high-quality, text-based 24/7 mental health support and crisis intervention in English and Spanish.  

If you need mental health resources or support please reach out:

• Visit the Crisis Text Line website or text 741741.
• Call 988 or visit the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline website.
• Or visit the OnStar Veterans support website.

We are conducting a survey to learn more about our listeners and we want to hear from you.What do you like about the show? What would you like to hear more of? Let us know at www.tmwh.clubYou can also vote for your favorite episode of Season 3 and we’ll rebroadcast the winner with extended audio that will make it even more compelling!

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Cuando su tren abarrotado del subterráneo de la Ciudad de New York chillaba hasta parar por emergencia, K. Page Stuart Valdes se descomponía por el miedo. Ella recientemente había tenido un infarto que nadie podía explicar. Aterrada de que volvería a pasar, ahí mismo rodeada por extraños, K. Page sentía como la ansiedad la abrumada. Hasta que una cálida voz cortó por la neblina.

Ese extraña, un acara cualquiera en el tren momentos antes, ayudó a K. Page a encontrar su forma de salir del ataque de pánico y a seguir con su día. Luego la extraña había desaparecido. Pero su amabilidad fue crítica y ayudó a K. Page a darse cuenta que ella necesitaba ayuda en su salud mental. 

Hoy, a K. Page no le encantaría nada más que encontrar a la mujer que dio un paso adelante y puso su mundo en firme. Por favor comparta este episodio para ver si la podemos encontrar a ella. 

También hablamos con Natalia Dayan, una trabajadora social licenciada y la Directora de Estrategia Global en la Crisis Text Line (Línea de Texto de Crisis) para discutir la salud mental y cómo apoyarnos mutuamente.

Si usted necesita recursos para la salud mental o apoyo por favor comuníquese:

• Visite la página web de la Crisis Text Line o envíe un texto al 741741. 
• Llame al 988  o visite la página web del 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline(Línea de Suicido y Crisis).
• O visite la página web de OnStar Veterans support (Apoyo a Veteranos de OnStar).