CHEYENNE -- Through the simple, kind act of offering to pick up groceries for a neighbor, Jessie Banks soon became a constant friend and eventual hero in the life of Cheyenne resident Babs Klein.

Banks has made it a habit to help where he can in his community, doing grocery shopping for the elderly and taking on menial chores that his older neighbors often can no longer do on their own.

"He fits the definition of an unsung hero par excellence," Klein said. "And I think it was what we Jews called 'bashert,' something that was just meant to be."

Klein, who has normal pressure hydrocephalus, requires a walker to get around and needs additional help, which is why she has had Banks going to run errands or helping her with tasks in her home.

"She's good at everything that she does, and that's what I see in her," Banks said, referring to Klein. "She's just so remarkable. ... If something goes wrong with her, I'm not myself, because she's kind of like my angel."

The pair are such integral parts of each other's lives that they speak every day, a habit that saved Klein when she took a fall in early November.

On election night, Klein went into the kitchen to get something out of the fridge, and in doing so, she fell and hit her head.

"I was propelled backward and landed flat on my back, raising a knot on my head," Klein said. "And all I could do was inch my way around to my desk, reach up for the phone and call (Banks), who happily answered, came over and got me upright."

While Banks encouraged Klein to go to the hospital, she told him that she was OK, and for three days everything seemed to be fine. One night, as she settled into her recliner for the night, she felt something was off.

She decided to sleep sitting up, but when she tried to get up in the morning, she couldn't get herself upright, Klein said. Her efforts got her stuck on the floor.

"When you fall, honey, at your age, you need to have that looked at," Banks recalled telling Klein. "She didn't want to do that. Well, I let it be. ... She didn't answer her phone that day. So soon as I got off work, I (went) over. She had fallen out of her recliner on the floor."

Banks had a spare key to Klein's apartment and, with the help of a doctor and Klein's roommate, was able to get her to the hospital.

"Turned out I have two sacral fractures, a possible compression fracture (and a) subdural hematoma," Klein said. "Really good thing that they got me there."

Banks knew Klein wasn't the type to just not answer her phone, and having been there for the initial fall, he also knew she could be seriously hurt, he said.

"I just want her out of (the hospital)," Banks said. "I want for her to really realize that 'Babs, you are the source, and that God's going to give you this strength to put you back on your feet.'"

Klein sees Banks as a charitable and helpful person, and that's how Banks sees himself. Working at Safeway and being a gas attendant, Banks sees himself as a people person who is looking to help everyone.

"I will do what I have to to help anybody," Banks said. "If you're short on money, I will help you. You need gas, I will help you. I'll go broke trying to help somebody else."

Being the person that can fix a light when the landlord is slow to respond to a work request, or the person who can drive someone like Klein to the hospital, is Banks' way of giving back to the world.

While Banks' friendship with Klein, his "angel," is special to him, he does his best to help several people in his community.

"I come into this world with nothing, and I'm leaving nothing," Banks said. "But I want to leave knowing that I helped others thrive on doing the right thing, because I've been there, and I don't want to look back."

To Klein, Banks is the quintessential example of an "Unsung Hero," someone who stepped up when she needed him, and took care of her even when she couldn't ask for help.

"It means the world to me to know that there's somebody out there that loves me and knows me for me," Banks said. "To recognize what I do ... I'm a human. I don't want to be judged by the cover, but by what's inside. And that's what she sees, she sees the good side."