Amazon delivery driver saved family from Boulder fire just before their house burned down
The Stanley family only had five minutes to get away and their car wasn't working.
As the world prepared to ring in 2022, tens of thousands of people near Boulder, Colorado were being evacuated from their homes due to an unprecedented winter blaze that tore through their community December 30. The Marshall Fire took out entire neighborhoods at incredible speed, burning more than 6,000 acres in less than 24 hours and destroying nearly 1,000 structures.
It was a terrifying disaster, with families having just minutes to flee their homes as the flames raged toward them at speeds of up to 100 miles per hour.
Mary and Taylor Stanley were in their home in Superior, Colorado with their baby when they found out the fire was headed straight for their house. "We look outside and there's thick smoke in the air," Mary told Fox 31 News, "and we can see it crawling, the flames and the smoke, just crawling toward us."
They only had five minutes to get out of the house.
"While I was gathering our belongings, my husband ran out and tried to start the car," Mary Stanley wrote, telling the story on GoFundMe. "It was dead. He then ran to the neighbor's house and began banging on the door to no avail. He ran back home and said 'we have no way out of here we have to try to make it by foot' while hundred mile an hour winds blew the fire through the shopping center right across the street from our house and smoke covered everything."
Just as the Stanleys were gathering belongings to take with them, an Amazon driver named Luanne showed up to deliver a bike pump Taylor Stanley had bought since their car was out of commission. She asked the couple if they needed help, and they told her they had no way to get out of town except on foot.
"A violent gust of wind then slammed against our gate, causing the door to become lodged inwardly," Mary wrote. "We tried to pry it open and we couldn't, so my husband began throwing items over the 8-foot tall fence and then climbed over it himself. Thank God we had gotten the baby and most of the belongings out before that happened. She [Luanne] then gave us a ride to the community center where we were safe from the smoke, fire and winds until our best friend could come get us."
Later, the Stanleys would find out that their house was a total loss, burned to the ground like hundreds of their neighbors. But they were grateful they got out in time with Luanne's help.
"It was just one of those miracles that happened on both sides," Luanne said when the Stanleys called to thank her.
“We could be dead if it wasn’t for Luanne,” Mary Stanley told Fox 12. “She was our saving grace. A little angel right at the moment that we needed her.”
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There's a reason why some people can perfectly copy accents, and others can't
Turns out, there's a neurodivergent link.
A woman in black long sleeve shirt stands in front of mirror.
Have you ever had that friend who goes on vacation for four days to London and comes back with a full-on Queen's English posh accent? "Oooh I left my brolly in the loo," they say, and you respond, "But you're from Colorado!" Well, there are reasons they (and many of us) do that, and usually it's on a pretty subconscious level.
It's called "accent mirroring," and it's actually quite common with people who are neurodivergent, particularly those with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). According Neurolaunch, the self-described "Free Mental Health Library," "Accent mirroring, also known as accent adaptation or phonetic convergence, is the tendency to unconsciously adopt the accent or speech patterns of those around us. This linguistic chameleon effect is not unique to individuals with ADHD, but it appears to be more pronounced and frequent in this population."
Essentially, when people have conversations, we're constantly "scanning" for information—not just the words we're absorbing, but the inflection and tone. "When we hear an accent, our brains automatically analyze and categorize the phonetic features, prosody, and intonation patterns," writes Neurolaunch. For most, this does result in copying the accent of the person with whom we're speaking. But those with ADHD might be more sensitive to auditory cues. This, "coupled with a reduced ability to filter out or inhibit the impulse to mimic…could potentially explain the increased tendency for accent mirroring."
While the article explains further research is needed, they distinctly state that, "Accent mirroring in individuals with ADHD often manifests as an unconscious mimicry of accents in social situations. This can range from subtle shifts in pronunciation to more noticeable changes in intonation and speech rhythm. For example, a person with ADHD might find themselves unconsciously adopting a Southern drawl when conversing with someone from Texas, even if they’ve never lived in the South themselves."
People are having their say online. On the subreddit r/ADHDWomen, a thread began: "Taking on accents is an ADHD thing?" The OP shares, "My whole life, I've picked up accents. I, myself, never noticed, but everyone around me would be like, 'Why are you talking like that??' It could be after I watched a show or movie with an accent or after I've traveled somewhere with a different accent than my 'normal.'
They continue, "Apparently, I pick it up fast, but it fades out slowly. Today... I'm scrolling Instagram, I watch a reel from a comedian couple (Darcy and Jeremy. IYKYK) about how Darcy (ADHD) picks up accents everywhere they go. It's called ADHD Mirroring??? And it's another way of masking."
(The OP is referring to Darcy Michaels and his husband Jeremy Baer, who are both touring comedians based in Canada.)
Hundreds of people on the Reddit thread alone seem to relate. One comments, "Omfg I've done this my whole life; I'll even pick up on the pauses/spaces when I'm talking to someone who is ESL—but English is my first language lol."
Sometimes, it can be a real issue for those around the chameleon. "I accidentally mimicked a waitress's weird laugh one time. As soon as she was out of earshot, my family started to reprimand me, but I was already like 'oh my god I don’t know why I did that, I feel so bad.'"
Many commenters on TikTok were shocked to find out this can be a sign of ADHD. One jokes, "Omg, yes, at a store the cashier was talking to me and she was French. She's like 'Oh are you French too? No, I'm not lol. I'm very east coast Canada."
And some people just embrace it and make it work for them. "I mirror their words or phrase! I’m 30. I realized I start calling everyone sweetie cause my manager does & I work at coffee shop."