Tell Me What Happened

A Daring Whitewater Rescue

After more than a decade kayaking flat water, Daniel Hartung wanted to try some rapids. His opportunity came during a bluegrass and whitewater festival in Hope, Alaska. A

Escaping the Palisades Fire

In January 2025, a deadly fire blazed through the hills north of Los Angeles. Amidst the inferno, Aaron Samson needed to get his 83-year-old father-in-law, Ron, to safety

Heatstroke in the Superstition Mountains

While on vacation, Colt Johnson went in search of a little fresh air and headed toward Arizona’s Superstition Mountains. Five hours into his hike, he began to feel lighth

Seen and Saved Through a Camera Lens

Antoinette Foley has had a tough life. She lost her children, struggled with addiction and ended up living in a tent by a river in Ireland. Her story could have ended the

Struck by Lightning on the Trail

Minko Nikolov is an avid rock climber. Bouldering? Big vertical walls? He does it all. But he’s no risk-taker. In fact, on this day, he was only hiking in Rocky Mountain

A Heart Attack and Help From the Crowd

Blaine Russell-Webster was going about his day when he suffered sudden cardiac arrest, lost consciousness, and rolled his work truck in front of a cemetery in Buffalo, Ne

An Unlikely Avalanche

Janet He likes to ski. She does the blue runs and a few of the blacks, but she sticks to the in-bounds slopes and always minds weather warnings. None of that mattered one

A Jogger, His Dog, and an Icy Canal

As a sports columnist in Washington, D.C., Mike Wise loved unwinding with a run along the C&O Canal with his dog Looly. One fiercely cold night, Looly chased a stick onto

A New Season of Uplifting Stories

Tell Me What Happened is back for a sixth season with eight new heroic, true stories of people helping people. This season, we’ll take you to a raging river in Alaska, th

Hiker Rescues Bridesmaids from Hurricane

Six hundred miles from where Hurricane Helene slammed into the Florida coast, a group of bridesmaids found themselves trapped on a mountainside. Kayla Donnelly is getting

Musicians Rescue Hundreds on Sinking Ship

As a luxury cruise ship sinks, unlikely heroes come to the rescue. Rose-Marie Howe was shocked when her cruise was interrupted by a blackout. But she soon realized the lo

Pulled Free and Paid Forward

A simple drive home becomes a life-or-death struggle. The weather wasn’t great, but Bryan Pederson was just a few blocks from home on a street he had driven a thousand ti

One Hug, Two Lives Changed

From a crowd of onlookers, one person steps forward to help. A teenage girl named Maddie walked to a highway overpass and stopped. As dozens of cars sped past, she climbe

River Outing Takes a Twist

A leisurely float with friends nearly ends in tragedy. On a hot summer afternoon, Abi Sherman and some friends decided to cool off by floating down the Snoqualmie River i

Rescued From a Ravine

Social media comes to the rescue. Stacey Eno loves to travel. Her friend Mikey does too, and so they made plans to meet up and explore Bali. After settling into their hot

From Tragedy, a Love Story

Something good emerges from something awful. Chantal Melanson was a country girl from Canada. Austin Monfort was a college student from California. They met at a countr

Face-to-Face With a Hungry Grizzly

A fight for life in the Canadian wilderness. Colin Dowler spent his whole life looking at the mountain named after his grandfather. Finally, at the age of 45, he decided

What Would You Do?

Tell Me What Happened returns for a fifth season of stories that will make you wonder, “What would I do?” If a grizzly attacked? If a cruise ship was sinking? If a night

Learning to Land on the Fly

On May 10, 2022, Darren Harrison was one of two passengers flying home to Florida from the Bahamas. They were still over the Atlantic Ocean when the pilot suffered a medi

After Addiction, a Chance to Do Right

Justin Downey had a choice — change his life or die. At 16, he was addicted to heroin. In his 20s, he was in and out of prison. While serving a three-year sentence, Justi