“I’m walking to the train a few minutes ago and a woman walked right up to me and gave me a tight hug and whispered quickly, ‘please act like you know me 3 guys are following me for a while…'”

This was just the beginning of the story relayed by a man on Twitter back in February – one that was shared well over a quarter of a million times.

The woman in question had been on the train in New York City where she noticed three men staring at her.

She got understandably worried when they got off at her stop and followed her for two blocks.

Fearing for her safety, she ducked into a store for a few minutes, according to the man who goes by @WonderKing82 on Twitter. And while they continued to follow her, she passed by other women but hesitated to ask for help because she didn’t want to create more potential victims. She also saw 2 other men she could have asked for help but they seemed to be in the middle of an argument.

That’s when she ran into @WonderKing82, who posted about their encounter.

“She saw me, and noticed I had a smile on my face looking at my phone and that’s when she knew I would welcome her.”

Of course, being in a big city, he thought he might be the victim of a setup. A stranger hugging you on the street is not something to take lightly.

Nevertheless, he was brave enough to comfort her and walk with her until she was out of harm’s way.

At this point, considering what’s been happening to black men around the U.S., it’s worth pointing out that it was a black man that this stranger decided to turn to to keep her safe (the color of her skin is beside the point). In fact, one might even see it as pretty awkward that she was willing to put him in harm’s way.

But he didn’t see it that way – he respected that she only had time to process the most minimal of information since she was afraid.

No one could blame him if he had turned away, but he did the exact opposite.

Despite being in danger himself (of all sorts of potential accusations or even potential violence from the men who were following her), this man walked her all the way to meet her 5-year-old son, comforted her, let her talk out her fear, AND called her the next day to offer to walk her from the station in the future!

Thanks poured in from around the country from women who had done something similar.

But this also raises the question – is it fair to be prejudiced so often against black men when some of us are also willing to use them as a human shield when they’re in trouble?

Of course, @WonderKing82 didn’t ask that question. He simply helped, and cared, and protected the potential victim, despite the personal risk he was accepting.

They were both lucky not to become victims that night.

For his part, the good samaritan got the kudos he deserved.

It turns out the man is a counselor who specializes in sexual abuse and treats adolescents from the age of 5 (and adults all the way up to 21). He also gave credit to his mother for raising him to help.

But let’s not let it go unnoticed that we expect an awful lot of black men if we simultaneously want them to be protectors while calling the cops on them for doing something as simple as sitting in the park birdwatching. How can they possibly know how these situations will end for them? Their choice appears to be hero or martyr. And it’s not fair.

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Source: Bored Panda, @WonderKing82 via Twitter, Vox