A mother of an autistic son comforted by the help of a stranger: NPR

Last year, Walker Hughes, 33, who is autistic and speaks very little verbally, was rushed to hospital after trying a new drug that made him restless.

"We ride at rush hour and my nice boy yells and catches me and we are scared to death," said Ellen Hughes, Walker's mother, now 69, in an interview with StoryCorps recorded in February. "This is not the guy I know at all."

Even before they arrived at the Loyola University Medical Center in Chicago, Ellen was already planning what would happen once in the emergency room.

"When he was little, an officer was put on his back while he was screaming, and he was handcuffed to gurus in the emergency rooms just for having a seizure and being big, "she said. Walker is 6 feet 3 inches.

To make matters worse, during this special visit, Walker bit Ellen. "I'm sitting there, heartbroken, scared, bleeding and Walker trying to run away," she said. "And I see, like, five guys on him, and all I think is," it will not end well. They will kill him. ""

But that is when the unexpected happened.

"Suddenly, I hear this cute game," Ellen said.

Enter Sgt. Keith Miller, Public Security Officer of Loyola University. "I saw fear on your face," said Keith, 47. "That touched me personally." Keith has a 14 year old son who is also autistic.

As Ellen said, every time Walker tried to escape the hospital, Keith would say, "Walker gets up! Walker sits! Walker walks back! Walker lengthens!" " And then you said five percent high all around. "And to Ellen's surprise, Walker beamed and offered all the officers.

Then Keith started singing the opening theme song for Mr. Rogers' neighborhood. At that time, Walker, who had been terrified moments ago, felt that the officers were his friends, Ellen said. And other people around them watched the joy blossom and wanted to participate.

"As parents, we are here to help them overcome their barriers," said Keith. "And if we can not do it ourselves, there are other people to help us, and I want to be one of those other people."

Ellen is grateful for the care Keith took with Walker that day.

"No one else does what you do," she says. "I have been in many emergency rooms, I have never sat there and I thought it was one of the most important moments of my life."

Audio produced for Morning edition by Aisha Turner, with special thanks to Bill Healy.

StoryCorps is a national non-profit organization that gives people the chance to interview friends and family about their lives. These conversations are archived at the American Folklife Center of the Library of Congress, allowing participants to leave a legacy for future generations. Learn more, including how to interview someone in your life, at StoryCorps.org.