For this week’s inspiration, we have ten heroic real-life incidents for you that will also strengthen your faith in humanity.
1. A blind man saves a blind woman from a burning house: When Jim Sherman, blind from birth, heard his 85-year-old neighbor’s cries for help as she was trapped in her burning home, he found his way over to her home from his trailer in the next lot by feeling his way along the fence. Once he reached the woman’s home, he somehow managed to find his way inside and locate his frightened neighbor, Annie Smith, who was also legally blind. Sherman dragged Smith from the burning home outside to safety.
2. Skydiving instructor sacrifices his life to save his student: Skydiving instructor Robert Cook and his student, Kimberley Dear, were heading to the sky for her first jump when the plane’s engine failed. In an incredible act of bravery, Cook told Dear to sit on his lap, hooking their harnesses together. As the plane crashed to the ground, Cook’s body absorbed the impact, killing him but protecting Kimberley.
3. Man carries four soldiers off the battlefield: Joe Rollino, once the “strongest man in the world” title holder, pulled his comrades, two under each arm, off the battlefield in the second world war, and then went back into the line of fire to carry more wounded soldiers.
4. Father fights off an alligator to save his son: In Florida, Joesph Welch came to his six-year-old son’s rescue when an alligator clamped onto the boy’s arm. Without a thought for his own safety, Welch repeatedly punched the alligator, trying to get it to release his son. Finally, a bystander came to assist Welch by kicking the alligator in the stomach until the beast finally let go of the boy.
5. Girl lifts car to save her father’s life: In Virginia, a 22-year-old woman saved her father’s life when the BMW he was working on slipped off the jack and landed on his chest, crushing him. With no time to wait for help, the young woman lifted the car and moved it off her father, then performed CPR to keep him breathing.
6. Woman stops runaway school bus: In New Mexico, a school bus with children on board became a dangerous runaway vehicle when the driver had a seizure. A girl waiting for the bus saw that and called her mother for help. The woman, Rhonda Carlsen, took action immediately. She ran alongside the bus and jumped onto the bus, grabbed the wheel, and safely brought the bus to a stop. Her quick reflexes prevented any harm to the children on the bus, not to mention any bystanders who could have gotten in the way.
7. Teen pulls man from dangling truck: 18-year-old Peter Hanne, was in his home when he heard a crash. A semi-trailer truck had careened over the edge of a cliff in the dead of night. Without thinking of his own safety, he climbed onto the teetering vehicle, dropped into the narrow gap between the cab and the trailer, and smashed through the cab’s rear window. He then carefully helped the injured driver climb to safety as the truck creaked and swayed beneath their feet.
8. Bullet-riddled soldier returns to the battlefield: In 1966, under siege by the enemy, Robert Ingram continued to fight and save his comrades after being shot three times—once in the head, where the bullet left him partially blind and deaf in one ear, once in his hand, and once in his left knee. Despite his injuries, Ingram continued killing the North Vietnamese soldiers who were attacking his troop and going out into fire to save his fellow soldiers.
9. Champion Swimmer Saves 20 People From A Sinking Bus: Shavarsh Karapetyan saved 20 people from drowning in an underwater bus accident in 1976. The champion Armenian finswimmer was finishing a training run with his brother when he witnessed a bus with 92 passengers drive off the road into a reservoir, hitting the water 24 meters (80 ft) from shore. Karapetyan dove into the water, kicked through the back window, and began pulling dozens of passengers clear of the bus, which had already sunk 10 meters (33 ft) into the frigid water. He went on saving person after person before he himself lost consciousness in the cold, murky water.
10. Man lifts helicopter to save his co-worker: The set of a TV show became a real-life drama when a helicopter from the popular series Magnum P.I. crashed into a drainage ditch in 1988. As it came in for a soft landing, the helicopter suddenly careened out of control and plummeted to the ground, all of which was caught on film. One of the pilots from the show, Steve Kux, was trapped under the helicopter in the shallow water. Warren “Tiny” Everal ran over and lifted the helicopter off Kux. The chopper was a Hughes 500D, which weighs at least 703 kilograms (1,550 lb) when it’s empty.
All of us have a superhero inside us. What we need is an inspiration. Have a great week ahead!