People around the world believe in guardian angels.
In Hobbs, Linda Bittle is definitely one who believes. She has a whole family of them, she said, living right next door.
Linda was outside her home on West Berry Street on Nov. 21, cleaning up her yard. She was using a leaf blower and “I decided I was making a mess in the street, so I decided to pick some of them up,” she said.
“I felt a little weak, my arm started shaking, and I passed out,” Linda said.
It was Linda’s good fortune her neighbor’s granddaughter, Ariel Williams, 6, was outside playing at the time.
“I was riding my scooter outside, then I saw Ms. Linda on the ground,” Ariel said. “I ran inside and told Granny, then I told my dad and they went outside. They called 911 and they came.”
Ariel’s grandmother, Lillian Brooks, was one of the first of the family to reach Linda’s side. Lillian recalls trying to turn Linda onto her side, but not being able to manage.
She saw a man riding by on a bicycle and asked for help. Together, they got Linda onto her side. Then Lillian told Ariel’s father, Sharoid Williams, to call for an ambulance.
To this day, nobody knows who the bicycling Samaritan was. But the good news is Linda wasn’t seriously ill. Doctors told her later her potassium levels were low and she was dehydrated.
Sharoid, agrees: “It was a blessing” Ariel was there to help,” he said. “Ms. Linda could have lost her life, there was nobody else around.
“I’m glad Ariel was there at the right time.”
Linda said she doesn’t remember much of what happened until she woke up in the ambulance.
“They asked me if I knew where I was and I said ‘no,’” she recalls. “I knew my name and that was about it.
“But I’m feeling great now,” Linda said. “Everything is good. It’s like I never had it happen.”
And she’s convinced Ariel’s quick thinking saved her life.
“Without Ariel, I don’t think I’d be here now, to be honest,” Linda said last week. “I just thank God every day she was out there and she saw me. I think it was by the grace of God that she was out there.”
And Ariel’s family isn’t sure how the youngster with the bright smile knew what to do, though. But one thing is certain — they are proud of her.
“We were just blessed she was outside playing when that happened,” Ariel’s grandfather, LJ Williams, said.
Lillian echoed the sentiments: “She was out there at the right time.”
