Tulsa Widow Grateful For Kindness Of Strangers

A Tulsa woman says she has renewed respect for the kindness of strangers.

She's a stay-at-home mom who lost her husband four months ago today.

She's getting by with a little help from her friends -- friends she didn't even know she had.

Brandon Basden was proud to live in football country.

So proud, his son bears the name of a Sooner.

"He's named after Sam Bradford," Jamie Basden, Brandon's widow, said of their son.

With a legacy like that, it's fitting the men painting Jamie's house are on a football team.

"[Brandon] would be pretty impressed. He'd be over the moon," Jamie said.

About 30 coaches and players from the Oklahoma Defenders --- an indoor football team -- are picking up paintbrushes to smooth out their teamwork skills and lend Jamie a hand.

"I kind of get a better feeling helping families than I do actually winning a game." Defenders player Lamar Baker said.

They're doing the household chores Jamie and Brandon normally would have done together.

"We lost him very suddenly," Jamie said. "He seemed like he was fine one minute. The next minute he was passed out on the floor."

Brandon died the next day from a massive infection.

Between dealing with her husband's death and raising baby Bradford, Jamie says she often feels helpless.

"Having to live without him. Having to figure out what to do now. How to take care of him," Jamie said.

"I'm not used to being helpless. Not that I can't do it but it's just so overwhelming and then with him it's even more overwhelming."

But with the Defenders on her side, it's easier to manage.

"They're finishing this room up," Jamie said. "We just need more paint."

And Jamie is floored by the selfless hearts of Oklahomans.

"Oh, goodness," she said. "There's no better people. People who don't even know me show up to take their Sunday to paint for a woman they don't even know. How much bigger of a heart can you get than that?"

Jamie is also grateful to the doctors who found her a place to live, the chiropractors who helped her move and the church members who painted the downstairs of the house.

Her story proves just how much people can accomplish -- together.