EMTs stunned to silence after they read a note from someone who secretly paid their bill

A group of EMTs got a heart-warming, unexpected surprise from someone who perhaps once relied on them to save her life.

On the morning of a Friday in July 2018, six members of the First Aid Squad in Toms River, New Jersey, had just gotten off the night shift and decided to get some breakfast at a local IHOP.

However, when it came time to pay the bill, they were shocked to hear that their meals had already been paid for. On the bill, they found a note attached to it.

“Paid, thank you for all you do! Have a great day!” the note read.

While these words themselves didn’t seem to explain the reason behind the kind gesture, the signature at the end revealed everything.

“Recovering addict,” the author of the note signed with a smiley face.

Many people who struggle with addiction are thankful to their local emergency services for medical help at some point, and maybe this stranger was one of them. After reading the note, the EMTs were left stunned.

“It was just a reminder that there is still so much good in the world. The note and paying for our breakfast … we are a boisterous bunch but that brought our table to complete silence,” Captain Alyssa Golembeski told NJ.com. “We were practically in tears.”

Golembeski added that this was no small act of kindness either.

“EMTs can eat, so we racked up like a $77 bill,” Golembeski said.

By the time the EMTs wanted to thank the woman, she had already left.

“When I asked the manager who it was, he told us she didn’t want to give her name and that she had already left. We never got the chance to thank her in person,” Golembeski told NJ.com. “Even though it may not have been my crew or my EMTs that were there when she was an active addict, she still took the time to do that for us.”

The EMTs expressed their overwhelming gratitude to the woman’s sweet gesture.

“I really want her to know how grateful we all are to her and how much we hope she continues on her road to recovery,” Golembeski told NJ.com.

“Her act of kindness definitely recharged and refreshed us all,” Golembeski told the Patch.

After Golembeski posted the story and a photo of the note on Facebook, many people commented on and shared the post.

One user, Amy Elisabeth, wrote about how a police officer saved her from a potential overdose.

“I still thank the police officer who found me behind a store leaning against a dumpster. This was in 2005, we weren’t far from a hospital so he put me in his car and rushed me there himself. Him and his wife reached out to me afterwards and we remain close to this day,” Elisabeth wrote.

Elisabeth then thanked the police officer for what he had done for her.

“I know some people think we should just be allowed to die, but y’all work on us no matter what. I’m sober over 11yrs now, I’m alive because someone in a uniform thought I was worth it,” Elisabeth wrote. “Thank you for what y’all do… Sincerely, thank you.”

Another user complimented the story.

“This is the most beautiful post I think I have ever seen about the power of recovery,” Ivana Grahovac wrote. “Stories like these show the person suffering that a better life of dignity, compassion, loving kindness and magical moments await them.”

Mary Mcmyers heard the story on the radio. She said that the story made her day. On Facebook, she wrote a few words to the woman who wanted to stay anonymous.

“To the woman who is remaining anonymous,” Mcmyers wrote. “I hope you find the strength to keep going forward on your journey. I have never been in your shoes and can only imagine how difficult your road is. Your act of kindness and your way of saying “thank you” is something admiral. I will keep you in my prayers and hope that if you are reading this, that you know there are people who support you and hope to see you continue on you journey to recovery.”