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Navy veteran was stranded on the side of the road until a stranger stepped in to help

Lisa wrote on her Facebook wall that Paul, a Navy veteran in his 70s, was struggling to stand. She pulled over to see what was wrong.

CHATHAM COUNTY, Ga. — It was a normal day for Lisa Quanstrum as she drove down I-95 North near the Georgia-South Carolina line - until she saw a man waving at passing cars wanting help.

Lisa wrote on her Facebook wall that Paul, a Navy veteran in his 70s, was struggling to stand. She pulled over to see what was wrong.

"What I discovered broke my heart," she wrote. "Paul wasn’t feeling well and stopped to look for his medicine. When he got out of the car to check the trunk he shut the driver's side door and everything automatically locked on him."

So there he was, standing with his cane outside of his car. She said his phone, wheelchair, and everything else he needed was locked inside of his car. 

"When I stopped he looked exhausted and uncomfortable, it was hot, already 95 degrees at 10 AM," Lisa wrote. "Paul informed me that he had been standing on the side of the highway for almost 2 hours and not ONE SINGLE SOUL stopped to offer him assistance."

Lisa gave him the folding chair that was inside of her trunk and she called 911. 

She claims the operator told her no one could come assist them.

"Because it’s considered a liability to unlock car doors for people," she wrote. But little did she now this encounter would later effect change. 

Lisa said she googled AAA and they were able to make it there about an hour and a half later. 

She took to social media about what happened that day and just couple of days later, she said the got a call from the Chatham County police chief. 

"Good morning and thank you to everyone single person who shared Paul’s story," she wrote as an update. "Because of you Chatham County has changed their lock out procedure and something like this should never happen to anyone again."

Her Facebook post has been shared more than 120,000 times and has more than 40,000 comments. 

11Alive got the chance to sit down and talk with Lisa about the encounter. 

"I took to my Facebook page just to kind of vent to my family and friends and just give them a reminder that it takes two seconds sometimes to just stop and see if somebody is okay," she said.

She told us the two exchanged numbers and they plan to get together sometime next week.

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