BRUNSWICK, Ohio — When Ryan Thompson walks up to the home where Beverly and Billy Ray Watkins Sr. are staying, he knows he has people who consider him family inside.
"I always say to that there's a reason for everything," their son, Billy Ray Jr., says. "If someone comes through your path, there's a reason for it."
That reason was last week in the 500 block of Maplewood Avenue in Brunswick, when the home of Beverly and Billy Ray Sr. burned to the ground.
"By the time I opened the garage, I [saw] the whole garage on fire," Billy Ray Jr. remembered.
He leapt into action, moving Beverly outside to safety. Then he went in for his dad, who is also battling Stage 4 brain cancer.
"Got them out into the yard and I wheeled them as far as I could to that ditch area, which we have a tree out there, too," Billy Ray Jr. said. "You could see the house just going and deteriorating and falling."
That's when Ryan Johnson came into the picture.
"I was coming down Grafton, going to my girlfriend's house," Ryan recalled, "and called her and said, 'It might take a little bit longer, because there's a garage on fire."
Ryan says he got of his car and offered help, moving Billy Ray Jr.'s parents carefully across the street into a relative's home.
"So I was grateful for me to turn around and see Ryan there giving my mom another extra hand," Billy Ray Jr. said, "because I ran across the street to get ahold of our neighbors so we could get 911 on the roll."
Then, Ryan drove away into the night. Last week, Beverly Watkins made an emotional plea for him to come forward.
"You [were] an angel. You [were] an angel to me when you came to my need," Beverly declared on Nov. 30, the day after the fire. "And I want to thank you very much."
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A few days later, and after seeing 3News' initial story, Ryan reached out to the Watkinses and reunited with them at their granddaughter's home.
"I saw somebody needed help, you know? That's really it," Ryan explained. "I didn't ... I don't think I did anything that special. I'm very appreciative that they're grateful."
Grateful, they are — even with Billy Ray Sr. on borrowed time, he got to thank the man who helped to save him.
"I want to thank God for Ryan, because he gave him a kind heart. And that's what it takes in this world: A kind heart and people working together. That's who I want to thank. He was an angel to me, whether he wants to accept that title or not," Beverly told us. "So I want to thank my son for helping him be there with me, help get [my husband] out."
It was a team effort that has bonded the Watkinses to their guardian angel for life.
"My father's birthday was just two days ago," Billy Ray Jr. said. "We celebrated his 79th birthday, and we asked Ryan to come spend some time with us. He actually spent all day here. It was pretty cool."
"I guess I've been taken in by them, as they say," Ryan added. "So I don't see them, and/or I, going anywhere anytime soon."
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