Not everyone can be called a hero, but the acts of one woman trying to stop a crime make her heroic in every sense of the word.
But now, she needs a hero of her own, and friends and family are holding a charity event in her honor.
On November 9, 2009, Brenda Williams was walking out of the KMart shopping center in Myrtle Beach when she saw someone steal a friend's purse.
Acting quickly, Brenda jumped in the criminal's car trying to take the keys out of the ignition, but she got stuck.
The criminal drove away dragging Brenda 100 feet.
The incident left Brenda bruised, bloodied and paralyzed from the waist down.
"I don't remember," said Williams. "I don't remember coming out the store at all."
"That is a blessing because it was such a tragedy," said Williams' friend, Doris Murray.
"I hurt, but I don't let anyone see me. My mother shouldn't be taking care of me I should be taking care of her."
Now three years later, this 53-year-old mother of two uses a wheel chair to get from place to place and depend on others for necessities.
"She's a good person," said Williams' brother, Bernard Dewitt. "Trust me, she don't regret it. Trust me, she's still got very good spirits."
But while her spirits are still high, so are the medical bills and expenses that continue to pile up.
That's why some of her closest friends and even some she's just met a participating in the 1st Annual Brenda Williams Charity Weekend Event.
"She's in the hundreds of thousands of dollars in need with the medical and the financial aspects of just living."
Events this weekend included a fundraiser at B's Lounge in Conway on Friday, a charity motorcycle ride that started in the Kmart parking lot Saturday afternoon and a fundraiser at 3rd Avenue Bar in Myrtle Beach.
Also Sunday night, organizers plan to hold a social at Mack's in Conway.
But even for someone fighting so much, Williams still wants others to continue their own fight.
"Don't cry for me because I'm OK," said Williams. "I'm really ok."
