An Ohio convenience store clerk rescued a woman who was suffering from heat stroke symptoms and mouthed a plea for help while in her car Wednesday, WTOV reported.

"I just mouthed the words 'help me,' and he saw me and he just literally went around the counter and ran out to me, just like that,” Crystal Ault of Steubenville told the television station. “He never left me the whole time."

Ault, who is suffering from emphysema, left her inhaler at home. She said she experienced shortness of breath due to the oppressive heat that residents have been experiencing in Ohio and was close to losing consciousness.

Anthony Marks, an employee at the BP station in downtown Steubenville, said he saw Ault in distress and reacted quickly.

"She pulled up when I was working at the window and she look distressed, so I ran out there and put her car in park and brought her inside," Marks told WTOV. "What I thought was going on was that she couldn't breathe, and when I got out there, I was right. She couldn't breathe."

Marks brought the woman into the store, gave her water and then went to his home to bring back one of his inhalers for Ault. Then he drove the woman home and walked back to the convenience store.

"He's like a guardian angel -- a guardian angel," Ault told WTOV. "He was there at the right time."

"I just figured it was the right thing to do,” said Marks, who has been working at the store for a month. “If it was one of my family members, I would want someone to do that for me, you know?"

About the Author

Keep Reading

Last Thursday, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission alleged First Liberty Building & Loan founder Brant Frost IV operated a $140 million Ponzi scheme, defrauding investors across the country. (Arvin Temkar/AJC)

Credit: TNS

Featured

Braves first baseman Matt Olson (left) is greeted by Ronald Acuña Jr. after batting during the MLB Home Run Derby as part of the All-Star Game festivities on Monday, July 14, 2025, at Truist Park in Atlanta. (Jason Getz/AJC)

Credit: Jason Getz/AJC