SCOTT DETROW, HOST:
Time now for "My Unsung Hero," our series from the team at the Hidden Brain podcast. "My Unsung Hero" tells the stories of people whose kindness left a lasting impression on someone else. Today's story comes from Gillian Kline. In 2015, Kline was diagnosed with breast cancer. She was 28 years old and months away from getting married. The very next day, she realized that it was the last day of open enrollment at her workplace. Usually, she just let her health insurance roll over, but now she suddenly had to decide if her plan would be enough to cover all the expenses that would come with cancer treatment.
GILLIAN KLINE: It was all so overwhelming, and I didn't know what I was going to do. I didn't understand copays or deductibles, but I did know that not having the right plan could be devastating. So I called Alex Mackey, the HR team member in charge of benefits. I didn't know Alex very well at this point. We were work-friendly, but we weren't close. And yet, she was going to be the first person outside of my parents and my fiance that I was about to tell what was happening. I was not ready to say the words I have cancer, but I had no choice. So I told Alex. She said, don't worry about a thing. I'll make sure you're enrolled in the right plan. Don't think about this again.
And from that moment on, she became an unbelievable source of support. She got me enrolled in the right insurance plan. She set me up with a health advocate through the insurance company, something I didn't even know existed. And then she sat in on every call and reviewed every bill I received. She found miscodings, overbillings, double charges. And she taught me, most importantly, not to pay the first bill that I get because they're often incorrect. It's actually better to wait. She was with me, my mother and another friend when I shaved my head and got fitted for a wig. She prepared a care package for me before I started chemo, and then she would text me on chemo days. And her messages, they were always perfect and just what I needed.
Before cancer, I used to confuse being nice with being kind, and I didn't know the difference. But through this experience, I came to understand true kindness.
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KLINE: Alex showed emotional intelligence that astounded me. She seemed to know the exact right thing to do, the exact right thing to say at each moment. Even in the middle of everything I was going through, I was in awe of her. And I think back on that time and I think about Alex when someone's in crisis or experiencing a tragedy, and I ask myself, what would Alex do?
DETROW: Listener Gillian Kline of Bethesda, Maryland, honoring her unsung hero, Alex Mackey. Kline just celebrated her 10-year anniversary of being cancer-free. You can find more stories of unsung heroes and learn how to submit your own at hiddenbrain.org. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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