A New Orleans woman’s viral TikTok video has sparked a search for a man who helped her escape human traffickers. Myisha Growe said that 14 years ago, she was being held against her will by a trafficker in Washington, D.C., and watched constantly. She had little hopes of escaping.
One day in 2010, a stranger approached her on the street and asked her, “Are you okay?”
Growe said she had previously asked strangers for help, but everyone ignored her pleas. However, this time, it was different. “When he asked, it gave me a real chance to say something — and he actually listened to me,” she said.
How a stranger helped Myisha Growe escape
Growe shared her ordeal with the man, told him she was far from home and very scared, and wanted to go back to her family in New Orleans. When the man promised to help, Growe initially did not believe him. However, the next morning, he arrived in a car.
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“He reached into his console, pulled out a ticket with my name on it, and said, ‘Here — no strings attached.’” Growe recalled.
That day, Growe boarded a flight home, and her nightmare was over. She has never seen her rescuer since, but remembers how he told her to go home, get back to school and make something of herself.
Who is Myisha Growe?
Growe did what her rescuer told her to – she earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees, and now supports crime survivors and their families in New Orleans. Her TikTok video about the man who saved her has been widely shared on social media, and some people in D.C. are even trying to help track him down.
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Growe does not remember much about the stranger, except a few details – he was a young Black man, about 5’5” or 5’6”, a gym or fitness trainer, and lived in the Capitol Plaza area near the D.C.–Virginia border in 2011. Growe said that even if the man wishes not to be found, she hopes he will hear her message.
“Everything he told me I could do — I did it. I trusted him over my trafficker, and I found myself,” she said. “I hope my story inspires others. If you see something wrong, step up — or pay it forward.”
Growe said the man’s help was “life-changing,” and said that she is alive today because of him.
