A Total Stranger Helped This Woman Braid Her Hair When She Was Stuck In The Hospital

Sometimes we need a little help.

This is Jaci Selby. Last week, while stuck in the hospital, all she wanted was someone to help her do her hair.

Selby, 36, lives with endometriosis and was in the hospital last week to have some scar tissue removed. She’s no stranger to the hospital, having undergone multiple surgeries before to treat her condition.

She also knows well how isolating the hospital can be, and how hard it is to do even simple tasks.

“Chronic pain and illness can be so isolating. You’re in the hospital at all hours. You sometimes can’t do the smallest thing for yourself,” she told BuzzFeed News.

On this visit, all she wanted was to do her hair.

“It’s impossible to lift your arms with incisions in your abdomen and I was there alone with nobody to help out really,” she said.

So, she posted in a Facebook beauty group looking for a little help.

“I asked if anyone in the Bay Area could come braid my hair.”

And quickly, she found what she was looking for.

Jaclyn Medrano saw Selby’s post and reached out right away.

“I just felt so much sympathy for her. She just wanted simple braids before she went into surgery and I felt like It was my job to reach out to her and see where she was so I could come to the rescue,” she told BuzzFeed News.

“My heart, I’ve always been the type to care for others even when I don’t know them. I guess it’s a Pisces thing.”

Medrano made the 40-minute drive and was there by 7 a.m., before Selby’s surgeon made his rounds. And those braids got done.

“We instantly clicked, we have the same name! She’s so sweet and real and we laughed so much my nurse thought we were old friends,” said Selby.

They even both call their dads “Papa Jack.”

“I almost didn’t want to leave and wanted to talk more but I could tell she was tired from the medication,” said Medrano. “So once I was done I packed up and gave her a hug and was praying for the best for her surgery. I told her if she needed me again to just let me know.”

Selby later posted the story in the /r/HumansBeingBros subreddit where it got more than 60,000 upvotes.

In the replies, tons of people shared their experiences of being hospitalized.

“A lot of people have dealt with that surreal loneliness of being in the hospital,” said Selby.

Since they got along so well, Selby and Medrano have kept in touch.

“For her to come do that and just make me laugh and feel a little better about myself meant a lot,” said Selby.

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