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The origami crane a stranger folded for her hid a secret message for ten years

When Rika Matsuda crashed her bike at age 7 in Japan, a stranger washed her hurt foot and taught her to fold an origami crane. A decade later she unfolded it and found a handwritten message meaning roughly 'cherish the moment' — her unsung hero had written it while she was on the phone with her grandfather. From NPR's My Unsung Hero series.

The upbeat factorA ten-year-old paper crane, still lifting
✓ Verified · NPR · 2026-10-07 · Japan
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