When Red Cross volunteer John Mathews walked into the Multi-Agency Resource Center (MARC) in Wentzville, Missouri, the last thing he expected to see was the couple whose flooded home he had surveyed as a Damage Assessment (DA) team member.

And when Dustin and Heather Thiele walked into the MARC to get some assistance, the last thing they expected to see was the man who had seen them right after one of their worst moments.

As it turns out, John was returning from Jefferson City where he had received a Senior Service Award from Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe. He no longer was doing DA, having switched to Disability Integration Services for the Red Cross, and was at the MARC in that role.

But it turned out he was able to help the couple again.

When Dustin and Heather arrived at the MARC, there was no record of their property being damaged, and they explained their situation to John.

He knew their home had been damaged and he still had the DA records on his smart phone. He was able to find their address and determine it had been entered incorrectly in the system.

“The first two people I meet at the MARC were DA clients. What are the odds of that?” John said. “I felt a responsibility to help them out.”

Added to the odds of improbability was the fact that their house was among an estimated 200 properties John and his DA partner had inspected.

“He cared enough to pay attention and help us out,” Heather said. “’We’re overwhelmed and thankful for all the help we’re getting.”

Heather recalled that she and her 7-year-old daughter were asleep in their basement bedroom and Dustin was at work when the flooding hit. As the water rushed in, she grabbed her daughter and headed upstairs to wake up her mother and waited for a couple of hours to be rescued by boat.

“I was OK until the water started rushing in and it just kept raining. I started to panic and the mom part of me was worried,” she said.

With the flooding behind them, Dustin and Heather are thinking about the future. They like the neighborhood, so they plan to stay.

“We’ve never been through anything like this, but we will rebuild and pray this never happens again to us,” she said.

As for John, his greatest satisfaction was being at the right place at the right time and being able to help people in need.

“I got to yes,” he said. “That’s what matters.”