It was a perfect storm of circumstances that left 10-year-old Brayden Amburgey of Greenfield alone outside on a bitter cold day in December.
His school had a 2-hour early release the last day before Christmas break, and somehow that message had gotten lost between the school and Brayden’s grandparents, with whom he stays after school. Brayden got off the school bus to find the house empty and locked because his grandmother, who wasn’t expecting him home yet, was in Hillsboro, some 15 minutes away.
Brayden didn’t have his cell phone and tried knocking on a neighbors’ doors, but no one answered. Then, he saw a South Central Power Company truck next door. He caught the attention of Tristen Helterbrand, a meter technician out of the co-op’s Hillsboro office.
“Brayden was thinking on his feet. He saw the logo on the truck and figured it was someone he could ask for help. Tristen put him in the truck and stayed until we got there,” says Brayden’s grandmother, Linda Daugherty. “The day was in the mid-20s with really strong winds, but Tristen made sure Brayden was safe and warm. If it hadn’t been so cold, it wouldn’t have been such a big deal, but it was so cold and so windy, and I wouldn’t want him to be there alone.”
Helterbrand says he was glad to be in the right place at the right time to help Brayden. He used the South Central member database to find Daugherty’s contact information and let Brayden call Linda from his phone.
“I didn’t answer at first because I didn’t recognize the number,” she says. “When he called several times, I picked up and Brayden said, ‘Where are you?’ I was upset, but Tristen kept saying it would be OK.”
Helterbrand and Brayden stayed warm in the truck and talked about football and video games. When Daugherty arrived, she thanked Helterbrand and later called the co-op to express her appreciation.
Providing help when needed is the cooperative way, Helterbrand says.
“Brayden saw the South Central logo, which probably made him feel better about coming to me,” he says. “Helping each other is what the co-op stands for.”
Daugherty, for one, is thankful for that.
“Everything went wrong that day, but then everything went so right,” she says. “Tristen went above and beyond. I was struck by his compassion to look out for Brayden. He didn’t have to do that, but we’re very grateful that he did.”
From the March 2026 issue of Ohio Cooperative Living.