On April 29, 1992, rioting broke out across the United States in the aftermath of a trial of police offices accused of the bashing of Los Angeles motorist Rodney King. The city of Los Angeles, especially, experienced violence and destruction on a scale not seen since race riots of the '60s.
On that day a 33-year-old, white truck driver, Reginald Denny, was driving his 28-wheeler semitrailer back to the Mixed Concrete Company's depot. As he drove, he listened to a local country and western music station, ignorant of the unrest and the maelstrom that lay just ahead.
He manoeuvred his rig down Florence Avenue in south-central Los Angeles and noticed a crowd and commotion at the intersection with Normandie Street just ahead. He slowed as he approached the group, and suddenly found himself pulled from his vehicle and under a flurry of blows. The rioters threw him onto the road and kicked and beat him with any weapon available.
The attack was captured live by news cameras in helicopters circling overhead and went immediately to air.
We need to help
A short distance away, Lei Yuille, a young, black dietitian, watched the coverage on television with her mother and brother.
"We're Christians. We need to go and help," her brother declared. So they ran out to their car and drove the short distance to the corner.
Denny had managed to drag himself back into his truck and, although he couldn't see because of the severe injuries to his head and eyes, he tried to drive his truck away. Lei jumped onto the passenger-side running board of the prime mover.
"I told him I was there to help," she said. "He said he couldn't see, and I told him I would guide him."
In the meantime, Bobby Green, a black truck driver in his late 20s, who had also seen the beating on TV, arrived. He jumped on the driver's side running board and convinced Denny to slide across, so that he could get behind the wheel and drive the truck to safety.
Two more blacks, Titus Murphy and his girlfriend, Terri Barnett, drove ahead while Green drove the truck to a hospital. Lei, now inside the cab, sat on the other side of Denny, supporting his bleeding head.
An awesome God
"God is real awesome, and the bottom line is, He put me out there, and He was really responsible for getting Reginald Denny to the hospital," says Lei. "He used all of us to get him there. This is how he works--through people."
Bobby explains: "Really, I didn't want to go, because I felt like--you know--it was none of my business. But . . . if I was the truck driver, being at that place, I would want somebody to save me. I don't care what colour his skin is.
"And," he adds, "I think God was my shield, so I didn't get hurt."