"You're the big black guy, aren't you?" he blurted through sobs. "I'll be indebted to you for the rest of my life."
He kept progressing. Eventually the right time became clear.
Like many die-hard Boston Red Sox fans, Culbert rarely can get tickets to games at Fenway Park. But he saw the team was to play in Baltimore this weekend. He got tickets for Friday night's game.
Last time he was in Baltimore, he was only passing through. This time, he's a Marriott guest.
"We're his second family," Thomas says.
'Chosen to help'
They're not sure what they'll do this weekend, other than shed tears and talk. Culbert might try to get tickets for Saturday's game. He plans to visit Mercy.
But one thing is certain. A near-death experience changes people.
He says the stroke taught him something he'd never have learned otherwise: how to slow down and appreciate life, tragic though it may be at times.
"I had no clue know how to relax," says Culbert, now an avid stained-glass craftsman. "I'm more observant now. I love life. God does work in mysterious ways."
And Thomas? The experience reminded him that life is fragile. "We can be called home any time," he says.
Fact is, Culbert could have had his stroke anywhere - in another city, on a lonely highway, on a different street. But he didn't. To the hotel man, that's no accident.
"It wasn't me who saved anyone," he says. "God is ever-present. I'm blessed I was chosen to help."
