Old Lady Breathing Heavily Asks for $20 for Medication, Stranger Gives Her Money & Follows Her to Verify Her Story

A guy meets an old lady panting heavily at his doorstep, requesting him $20 to buy medicine. He gives her the money and stalks her to verify the truth.

What would you do if a stranger knocks on your door asking for money? You’d probably smirk or slyly shut the door on their face in refusal. But if you're one of those who'll agree to help, then here’s a small fact—you’re not alone!

Posting to Reddit’s popular community “CasualConversation,” one man narrated an incident where a poor old lady knocked on his door for nothing more than $20. However, the guy had his doubts.

The Original Poster (OP) with the username AquaTyphoon29 on Reddit had no idea where this lady came from. He’d barely seen her around and was stunned looking at her.

OP never entertained strangers around, but something about this older woman made him open the door and listen to her.

The woman was breathing heavily, and with every subtle tone she could muster, requested the man $20 for her breathing medication. Since OP had asthma, too, he could relate to her difficulty and carefully observed her.

OP noticed she held an empty package for an asthma inhaler. She looked helpless as she pleaded with him for the money.

The man stood silently at the doorway and observed her breathing rapidly. But deep inside, it echoed nothing but SCAM as he’d previously been defrauded by a 7-year-old.

As the discussion warmed up, OP came out with a bit of confession.

After a brief thought, the guy decided to help her as he pitied her helplessness. He handed her a $20 bill but not before he marked it with a black marker. He waited for her to vanish out of sight then followed her to verify her sincerity.

The woman walked quite far from OP’s house and reached the pharmacy. He crept and followed her inside, and to his surprise, the woman didn’t lie. She bought the medicine using the money he gave her.

OP said she’d slightly restored his faith in people. However, his narration was met with divided opinions. Some even condemned him for saying “faith in humanity restored” when a poor old woman had to beg a stranger for money to buy medicine.

“Not being able to breathe might change your mind,” wrote Redditor Bergenia1, who lashed out, saying “society has failed” such people. The user added:

“It’s deeply shameful when an old lady, and other vulnerable members of society, are left to suffer like this and are forced to beg strangers for help.”

Meanwhile, some people shared similar incidents where the people they’d helped turned out to be scammers, leading to distrust of those genuinely in need.

“I really hate that people scam so much that we mistrust everyone. I had a lady ask for money for groceries, so I gave her a budget and told her to meet me at the register,” user nerdKween recounted, adding:

“I felt bad for looking in her cart because she actually got dinner for her family.”

Responding to the person’s comment, OP claimed that even he often gets annoyed with people disguised as the needy to walk away with easy money.

As the discussion warmed up, OP came out with a bit of confession.“I had the $20 and wasn’t originally gonna give it to her, but she was just breathing so heavy, and it had me worried,” he said.

Meanwhile, some people wondered how the woman met her basic needs considering her financial struggle for just $20. Even OP felt likewise and said, “Makes me wonder how she’s living if she has to get $20 for meds.”

“My mother has meds that cost $200 monthly, and that’s after discount, the original price is $400…With prices like that, it just makes sense why she was begging for help,” he stated.

Questions to Ponder:

Do you think OP stalking the woman to verify her sincerity is justified?

OP trailed the woman secretly to verify her sincerity due to his experience with a scammer before. However, some people online said that OP stalking her to the pharmacy to check if she told the truth was unacceptable.

A few others argued that he could’ve driven her to the pharmacy instead of watching her struggle to breathe while walking a long distance. If you were OP, would you still consider verifying the woman’s sincerity, or would you think of a few more ways to help her out?

Was it fair on OP’s part to suspect a 90-year-old woman of scamming?

Though OP had a solid reason for doubting the woman of scam, several people turned critics and lashed out at him when he said his faith in humanity was restored after following her to the pharmacy.

Some even said that the woman’s age and the criticality of her health condition would, in no manner, make her a scammer. Should a stranger knock on your door for money, will you suspect them of scamming, or will you help them out?

If you liked reading this story, here’s a true story of a little girl who gives money to a homeless man to buy food, only to be eerily stalked by him moments later.

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