A Tri-City clerk was facing a winter without a car. A customer gave her $3,000 to fix it

Shyla Gentry tries to stay positive, but a $3,000 car repair bill was too much for the part-time Circle K clerk.

“I couldn’t find the window,” she said. “Usually when a door closes, I look for a window. I prayed for a miracle.”

That miracle came in the form of a long-time customer, who handed her a check to get her car fixed — unconditionally.

The problems started for the 57-year-old Kennewick woman when she went to pick up her mom from an emergency room recently.

Her mom suffered a heart issue and she was hurrying to get her when smoke started drifting up from under the hood of her 2006 Chevy Malibu.

“I was praying to get home before it croaked,” Gentry said. “I drove my mom home with smoke coming out of my car.”

She knew finding the money to fix her car was going to be tough. For 11 years she’s been taking care of her elderly mother, who suffers from dementia and Alzheimer’s. She wasn’t ready for a $3,000 engine repair bill.

Gentry was able to get rides from her son and her boss to work, but picking up groceries was difficult because she suffers from COPD and bursitis.

It was a passing mention of needing to walk in the cold weather that caught her customer’s attention, Gentry said.

The man visits with Gentry often and when he heard she needed $3,000, he went outside and returned with a check. He said it was a gift to get her car fixed.

She wanted to praise him publicly but he asked the Herald to stay anonymous. He said he did it because he’s been in tough situations before and felt compelled to do something to help.

For Gentry, she was moved by his generosity.

“I’m so thankful for that,” she said. “I’ve never had anyone help me like that.”

This story was originally published November 22, 2018 at 2:05 PM.