THE KINDEST PEOPLE: HEROES AND GOOD SAMARITANS (VOLUME 2)
By David Bruce
Dedicated to Faye and Michelle
Copyright 2011 and written by Bruce D. Bruce
SMASHWORDS EDITION
All anecdotes are stated in my own words to avoid plagiarism.
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The Kindest People: Heroes and Good Samaritans (Volume 2)
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THE KINDEST PEOPLE: HEROES AND GOOD SAMARITANS (VOLUME 2)
The best way to read this book, in my opinion, is slowly. Read a few good deeds and heroic rescues a day, and after you have finished reading it read a few good deeds and heroic rescues whenever you feel a little low.
“His Creation was the Greatest Expression of Love Anybody Could Ever Wish For”
Alex Patrick, Charlotte Pestell, and Helen Ritchie are Brits, and they are sisters—Alex and Charlotte are also twins. When Alex discovered that she had cervical cancer, she started chemotherapy treatments. Unfortunately, they made her infertile. Alex said that becoming infertile “was more upsetting than the cancer itself. Shaun [her husband] and I wanted to start a family and that had been taken away.” Alex’ sisters helped them get a child. Charlotte donated one of her eggs, which was fertilized with sperm from Alex’s husband and then implanted into Helen, who carried the baby to term. In 2005, Charlie was born. Alex said, “He is an angel. I am forever indebted to my sisters.” Alex added, “When my sisters found out [about my becoming infertile], they said, ‘Is there anything we can do?’ Shaun and I said we wanted children as closely related to us as possible. Charlotte said, ‘No problem, you can have my egg.’ It was almost like a joke.” Charlotte said, “The fact that we are twins means such a lot—this is the closest we could get to it being her child. I don’t need my eggs any more. I’ve had my children.” By the way, on 8 October 2008, Charlie got a brother: Oliver, who came into the world just like Charlie did—with three mothers. Once again, one of Charlotte’s eggs was used, Helen carried the baby to term, and Alex and her husband, Shaun, got a baby boy to raise. Alex said, “I’m so unbelievably happy to have a brother for Charlie. He’s a beautiful little boy, and Shaun and I adore him. The best part was introducing him to Charlie, who was very excited. He knows little Ollie came from the same place he did—his Auntie Helen’s tummy. He knows it was because my tummy doesn’t work properly. When Oliver’s old enough. I’ll explain to him the same as I’ve explained to Charlie—that his creation was the greatest expression of love anybody could ever wish for. I feel like the luckiest woman alive to have such incredible sisters.” Helen said, “I would never even consider being a surrogate for a stranger, but for Alex I’m prepared to do everything I can to help her because I love her.” Charlotte said, “From this point on, we’re just the aunties—very happy to leave the parenting to Alex. We’re closer than ever, but to us Alex will always be Charlie and Oliver’s mum. When I look at Charlie, I see my nephew, not my son, although he looks like me. It will be the same with Oliver.”
“After Saving the Babies, I Didn’t Stop Smiling All the Way Home”
In November 2005, paramedic Malcolm Midgley helped ensure that premature twins—a boy and a girl—stayed alive after their mother gave birth to them in a shack in the Zamimpilo informal settlement near Riverlea in western Johannesburg, South Africa. Interestingly, a fire was going through the settlement at the time and Mr. Midgley had come there because of the fire. When Mr. Midgley heard from some of the settlement’s residents that a woman seemed to be having what they thought was a miscarriage, he went to her and discovered that she had just given birth to twins. The baby girl was clinically dead, but he managed to resuscitate her. He said, “When I arrived at the woman’s shack, I found she had already given birth to a boy and girl. She was in the dark and trying to light a candle. The girl was clinically dead, and I began resuscitating her. I thought she wasn’t going to make it, but then she started screaming. Her brother also wasn’t faring too well. His breathing was slow, so I resuscitated him as well.” The twins were taken to Coronation Hospital. Mr. Midgley said, “When I left them, the little girl was screaming her head off. Both were a very healthy pink color.” He added, “I have done this [assisted in births] for 23 years. I have cut more umbilical cords than had hot dinners. After saving the babies, I didn’t stop smiling all the way home. It’s such a change. Often people don’t get the chance to say thank you, but these are the thank-yous that make the job worthwhile.” The twins were in stable condition at the hospital.
“My Waters Have Broken”
In September 2011, Sharon Eve spoke to Guardian reporter Chris Broughton about her experience recently helping a woman to give birth on a bus in London, England. When Ms. Eve boarded a bus, she noticed the woman: “late 20s, dark hair, heavily pregnant. Very heavily pregnant, it turned out.” Soon, the woman asked to use her cell phone, explaining, “My waters have broken. I need to phone my friend.” Ms. Eve wanted to call an ambulance, but the woman insisted on calling a friend, saying, “I’ve got no clothes with me, no books. I need to let someone know.” But when she handed the cell phone back, she gasped and said, “Oh! I’ve got more water coming out ….” Ms. Eve’s husband is a bus driver, so she knew what to say to the driver of this bus, whom she knew. She said, “Keith, we’ve got a code red.” Keith pulled the bus over and called an ambulance. The pregnant woman lay down near the back doors. Ms. Eve was hoping that the baby would not be born until after the ambulance arrived, but the woman, whose first name is Joanne, said, “I can’t [wait]! The head’s coming out!” Ms. Eve felt the baby’s head through the woman’s jeans, and then she said, “Right. We need to get these trousers off.” Lots of people were watching, and Joanne was embarrassed. Fortunately, as Ms. Eve, a barmaid, said, “I may not have any experience as a midwife, but I know how to clear a bar. ‘Will you all move away and let us get on with delivering this baby?’ I shouted.” Ms. Eve pulled down the woman’s jeans, and the baby was born immediately. Ms. Eve said, “It was a boy, quite small, with surprisingly thick, black hair. I couldn’t believe how quickly it had happened. I had two long hospital labors, and though I wouldn’t have wanted to give birth in public, I’d have been delighted to have encountered such ease. No more than 15 minutes had passed from the time Joanne had asked for my phone, to the point when I held her baby.” A bus passenger gave her a cardigan to wrap around the baby, which at one point stopped breathing. Ms. Eve rubbed the baby’s cheeks and head, and the baby started breathing again. The ambulance arrived and took over. Later, Joanne called Ms. Eve to thank her. The baby was named Joaquin, and he weighed 7 pounds and 14 ounces. Joanne told Ms. Eve that she would bring the baby around so Ms. Eve could see him.
“I Knew I Needed to Stop and Help Him”
On 16 September 2011, the cross-country teams of Andover High and Lakeville South High competed in the Applejack Invite in Lakeville, Minnesota. Lakeville South runner Mark Paulauskas badly injured his ankle and began bleeding. Although he needed and asked for help, most runners kept going by him. Andover High runner Josh Ripley, a junior, did not. Josh carried Mark a half-mile on his back to Mark’s coach and parents and then rejoined the 2-mile junior varsity race. Mark needed 20 stitches to close the wound made by contact with the spikes that runners wear to get good traction. Josh, a junior at Andover High School, knew that he needed to help Mark. He said it was “just natural instinct.” He added, “I didn’t think about my race. I knew I needed to stop and help him. It was something I would expect my other teammates to do. I’m nothing special; I was just in the right place at the right time.” Jessica Just, the Lakeville South team’s coach, said, “I was stunned and so proud of the sportsmanship and kindness he showed to our runner who was injured. The family, our Lakeville South coaching staff and our whole team were so thankful and appreciative of Josh’s act of kindness and selflessness to a rival competitor.” Gene Paulauskas, Mark’s father, said, “While I was running with Mark in my arms [to get medical attention], he told me that it was a runner from another team who had stopped and helped him to an area of the course where he could get some help. It was horrible to see Mark with such a bad injury, but we were all struck by the selfless act of compassion, kindness, and sportsmanship exhibited by Josh Ripley, the Andover runner.” When Josh’s coach, Scott Clark, heard that Josh was carrying another runner, at first he did not believe it. He said, “Then Josh comes jogging into view carrying a runner. I noticed the blood on the runner’s ankle as Josh handed him off to one of the coaches from Lakeville. Josh was tired, and you could tell his focus was off as he started back on the course. Clearly he intended to finish, this happening inside the first mile. I got his attention and told him to relax and get his focus back for racing and not worry about his place. Josh continued to run and finished.” Mr. Clark added, “Clearly Josh is a compassionate and caring person. We consistently talk about being a team and caring about how each person on the team does. Cross country is filled with quality athletes at each school. It is always gratifying to see it exhibited in such a way as Josh did.”
“Chargers Fans are Amazing. We’re Like a Family”
On 1 September 2011 during the San Francisco 49er preseason game with the San Diego Chargers in Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego, California, Club-level server and mother of four Heather Allison tripped and dropped approximately $1,000—$170 in tips, and approximately $830 that was supposed to go to the concession. The money went everywhere, including over the railing into the lower Field section. Ms. Allison said, “All my customers began screaming over the railing to the people below, ‘That’s the servers’ money.’” People everywhere began collecting the money for her. In approximately 10 minutes, a security officer brought her a bunch of money. She said, “It was all there. Chargers fans are amazing. We’re like a family.”
“Get Him! Get Him! He’s Drowning!”
During June 2011, NFL players endured a lockout and so could not attend training camps. This worked out excellently for six-year-old Bryson Moore because instead of attending training camp, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Leonard “Champ” Pope, an African-American, was around to save his life. Young Bryson fell into the deep end of a swimming pool in Americus, Georgia, on 11 June 2011 while attending a cousin’s birthday party. His mother, Anne, began to scream, “Get him! Get him! He’s drowning!” Neither she nor the people around her could swim. Mr. Pope, who had learned how to swim at age nine, was inside a building, and when he heard the screams, he came running out to the pool. At first, he could see nothing. Then he saw a pair of hands sticking out of the water. Mr. Pope immediately dove into the water with his clothes on and with his cell phone and his wallet. Mr. Pope dove deep, grabbed Bryson and brought him to the surface, and gave him to his mother. Anne did not thank him right away; she was too concerned with getting her son to a hospital, where no medical problems were found. On the phone later, she told Mr. Pope, “If I’d had a million dollars, I’d have given it to you right there and then.” Immediately, Mr. Pope became known as a hero, although he did not know that right away because his cell phone was ruined, and he did not get another one for a week. He said, “I was having to borrow people’s phones at the airport. Perfect strangers. I finally called my girl, and she said, ‘Where have you been! Call your agent! Call your auntie! Everybody wants to talk to you!’” Sportswriter Rick Reilly says, “Say what you want about pro athletes, but if you’re in trouble, they're very handy to have around. Not only are they genetic superhumans, but they’ve been trained to react in an instant, to jump in where others fear to go and to execute flawlessly in chaos, whether it’s a double-reverse handoff or a mother screaming for her drowning child.”
“He Can’t Breathe! He Can’t Breathe!”
In July 2008 at Capone’s restaurant in Huntington Beach, California, Ken Hunter, a shipping company manager, started choking on a piece of meat. Fortunately, Kansas City Chief tight end Tony Gonzalez was there to save his life. Mr. Hunter said, “Tony saved my life. There’s no doubt. Tony came up behind me and gave me the Heimlich maneuver. Thank God he was there.” Mr. Hunter added, “I tried to take a drink of water, but I couldn’t swallow. Then I couldn’t breathe. That’s a terrible feeling. I couldn’t breathe. Then I guess I started to panic.” The screaming of Mr. Hunter’s companion alerted Mr. Gonzalez to the crisis. Mr. Gonzalez said, “She was screaming, ‘He can’t breathe! He can’t breathe!’ The whole restaurant was quiet. Nobody was doing anything. Then I saw he was turning blue. Everybody in the restaurant was just kind of sitting there wide-eyed.” Mr. Gonzalez then performed the Heimlich maneuver on Mr. Hunter. Mr. Hunter said, “After just a few seconds, the piece of meat popped out. I could breathe again. It’s a good thing Tony is so tall because I had stood up—I think.” Diana Martin, a restaurant employee, said, “He was so lucky Tony was there. In a situation like that, every second counts. It helped a lot that Tony’s a big, strong guy because you have to be able to apply some pretty good pressure. I don’t think I would have been strong enough to help him.” Mr. Hunter washed up in the restroom and then came out and realized that an NFL star had saved his life. Mr. Hunter said, “I’m a big NFL fan, and I recognized him right away. I was still kind of dazed when I went over and thanked him and said, ‘What can I do for you?’ I guess I said it about 1,000 times.” Mr. Gonzalez said about the Heimlich maneuver, “I had seen it done, so I just did it. When you find yourself in those situations where you have to take action in a crucial situation, you just do it.” He added, “I honestly don’t want to make a big deal out of it. But of course it does give me a lot of satisfaction to know that I was able to help somebody.” Mr. Hunter is a long-time San Diego Chargers fan, but he said after the rescue, “I’m Tony’s No. 1 fan now.”
A Hero is Someone Who Risks His or Her Life to Help Save Another Person. Sometimes the Hero Actually Gives His or Her Life
A hero is someone who risks his or her life to help save another person. Sometimes the hero actually gives his or her life. On 29 June 1983, Kansas City Chiefs star running back Joe Delaney, an African-American, heard the screams of three young boys drowning in a pond in Chennault Park in Monroe, Louisiana. Mr. Delaney asked other people to telephone for help, and then he went into the pond—although he couldn’t swim—and managed to rescue one of the boys. He went back in the pond, but he and the two other boys drowned. Columnist C.K. Rairden wrote, “This was not a trivial feat that Joe Delaney performed. He gave his life in an attempt to save three children that he did not know. His selfless act produced more results than he could have ever delivered on any football field. He managed to save one child’s life at an extraordinary cost. His three children would grow up without a father and his young wife would be widowed. In this instance Joe Delaney’s sacrifice saved one child, and in his selfless thought process, it was worth it.”
An Eccentric, and a Kind Man
Baseball pitching great George “Rube” Waddell was definitely an eccentric. Occasionally, he would leave the dugout during a game in order to follow a passing fire truck so he could watch the fire. As a joke, he would sometimes “catch” his own foot instead of the baseball, but he was such a good pitcher that normally he got the next batter out on strikes. By the way, he was a kind man who carried bags of peanuts in the pockets of his baseball uniform so he could throw peanuts to kids watching the game.
“I was Just Doing What I was Trained to Do”
On 4 June 2007, Robert Bielan, the head women’s soccer coach at New Jersey City University and a professional firefighter since 1995, saw a bad accident on the Garden State Parkway involving a cargo van from which two people were ejected, but in which four people were trapped. Mr. Bielan stopped his vehicle and put on his firefighter’s protective gear, and then he stabilized the cargo van and started freeing its trapped passengers. He was able to free three people with the help of some good Samaritans and emergency personnel, but the fourth person died. The two people who were thrown from the van survived. State Police Troop E Commander Major Allan L. DelVento wrote a letter to Mr. Bielan’s superior, Bayonne [New Jersey] Fire Chief, Patrick Boyle, in which he commended Mr. Bielan’s actions. Mr. Bielan said, “I was just doing what I was trained to do. It’s humbling, but it’s a job any fireman or cop placed in that situation would have done. It was fortunate I was the guy passing by that day. I’m proud to represent my family and Bayonne Fire Department as well as New Jersey City University, the athletics department, and the women’s soccer team.” Mr. Bielan said that as head women’s soccer coach at New Jersey City University, “I’m trying to teach my student-athletes to be strong, independent women and prepare them for the next level in life. Whether they go on to work in a company or they become stay-at-home parents, they have to get involved and help. I want to empower all these women to have confidence, be leaders, step out, and follow their hearts.”
Donating His Winnings
When British mixed martial artist Grant Harris won victory at the Knuckle Up event at the Bath Pavilion in December 2010, he donated his winnings to the Somerset and Dorset Air Ambulance because the organization had saved his life 10 years previously when he was in a serious car accident, following which there was a possibility that he might never again walk. Philip Welch, editor of the Central Somerset Gazette, said that “his success is even more impressive when you consider that there was a point in his life where there was a very real chance that he would never walk again. And to use his ability and the sport he has trained so hard in, to help raise money for the charity that saved his life shows that this man realizes just exactly how lucky he is to be at the top of his game, winning his fights, and in the peak of physical fitness.”
Problems and Influences
Catherine Ryan Hyde, author of the novel Pay It Forward, had a number of problems—alcohol, cigarettes, friends with attitude—in high school and beyond. Fortunately, she had some positive influences in her life that helped her overcome her problems. One was her high-school sophomore-year English and creative-writing teacher, whose name was Lenny Horowitz. He encouraged her to write, and he once even read to the class a humorous essay she had written—both he and the students laughed. In addition, he told the other teachers at the school that she could write. A positive influence she knew when she was an adult was a recovering alcoholic named Harvey, who told her, “You strike me as a person who could do just about anything you put your mind to.” At age 34, she got clean and sober. She also thought that if she could do just about anything she put her mind to, she would become a full-time, working writer.
“Then It Wouldn’t Seem Like Stealing”
American novelist Nicholson Baker lives with his family in a Maine farmhouse. His wife, Margaret, says that “we don’t lock our house—we don’t even have a key! No one does around here.” The people there are kind. For a while, a homeless boy lived in the woods. People knew that the homeless boy would go into their homes while they were away. Margaret says that “they left food on the table for him. Then it wouldn’t seem like stealing.”
A Dream in a Bottle
Some authors are kind enough to answer fan letters from children. For example, in 1989, a seven-year-old girl named Amy wrote Roald Dahl, author of The BFG [Big Friendly Giant], whose title character kept good dreams in bottles so that he could blow them into the bedrooms of sleeping children. Amy sent Mr. Dahl a bottle containing one of her dreams. Mr. Dahl wrote back, “Dear Amy, I must write a special letter and thank you for the dream in the bottle. You are the first person in the world who has sent me one of these and it intrigued me very much. I also liked the dream. Tonight I shall go down to the village and blow it through the bedroom window of some sleeping child and see if it works.”
“It is Incumbent on Anyone Who Can to Lift Human Dignity to the Highest Possible Levels”
In September 2011, Henry Rollins, former lead singer of Black Flag and an author and spoken-word artist, visited Haiti, a country with much turbulence and much poverty. He visited a tent city and asked the residents what they needed. The answer: soap and soccer balls. The soap is important for cleanliness, which is important for health and hygiene and comfort, and the soccer balls are important for the children. Mr. Rollins, a nice guy, went to a market and bought a lot of soap and two soccer balls. He remembers, “I gave them out and the group around me started struggling for the items. I had to cool down the tempers of two men who were almost going to start fighting over the things I brought. Grown men. Eight-cent bars of soap.” Some items that are very inexpensive to us are highly valued in impoverished parts of the world. Mr. Rollins says, “I plan to be a part of Haiti’s reconstruction and future. I think it is incumbent on anyone who can to lift human dignity to the highest possible levels, maintaining one’s own and helping to raise that of others.”
Kindness to a Moravian Opera Singer
Opera singer Leo Slezak was unable to leave Germany and Austria in World War II, although Walter, his son, an actor, had become an American citizen. After the war was over, comedian Bob Hope helped convince the Allies to provide protection for Leo Slezak’s estate. In addition, Walter got the addresses of nearly 1,000 American servicemen stationed in the Munich area. He sent each of the servicemen a 5-pound package containing necessities and asked them to deliver the packages to his father. Of the 958 packages that he sent, his father received 457.
Actress Kate Winslet, Others, Become Heroes in House Fire
In August 2011, Tropical Storm Irene passed over Necker Island, one of Great Britain’s Virgin Islands, and lightning struck British business magnate Richard Branson’s $70 million private island home, burning it to the ground. Actress Kate Winslet, who was staying there with her two children and her boyfriend, helped to carry Mr. Branson’s elderly mother to safety. In his blog, Mr. Branson wrote, “We had a tropical storm with winds up to 90mph. A big lightning storm came around 4am and hit the house. My son Sam and nephew Jack rushed to the house and helped get everyone out and many thanks to Kate Winslet for helping to carry my 90 year old mum out of the main house to safety—she was wondering when a Director was going to shout CUT!” He added, “Around 20 people were in the house and they all managed to get out and they are all fine. […] We will rebuild the house as soon as we can. We have a wonderful staff here and we want them to stay in work. […] There’s a lot of damage but we’ll create something even more special out of the ruins.” In addition, he wrote, “Currently just huddled up with family and friends in the continuing tropical storm realising what really matters in life.”
A Fan of a $2 Movie Saves His Sister’s Life
Tristin Saghin of Mesa, Arizona, is only nine years old, but he is a big fan of the military movie Black Hawk Down and has watched it numerous times. Good thing. In April 2011, his two-year-old sister was discovered floating face down in the family swimming pool. Because actors perform CPR in Black Hawk Down, Tristin knew what to do. He said that in the movie “they were, like, pushing on your chest and giving him rescue breaths.” Mesa Fire Department Captain Forrest Smith said, “He did save his sister’s life.” His parents paid only $2 for the movie. Tristin’s father, Chris, said, “We’ve tried to turn this movie off a hundred times. He watches these scenes over and over. He dresses up like a medic, and he runs around doing these things.”
A Cat with Broken Forepaws
After movie director Steven Spielberg’s cat fell out of a window and broke its forepaws, he rushed it to an emergency room where the workers put splints on the cat’s forepaws. He was so impressed by the dedication of the emergency room workers that he produced the television show E.R.
The Hippest of Cats
How nice it is that people sometimes write letters of appreciation. After Audrey Hepburn first heard the score for Breakfast at Tiffany’s, in which she starred, she wrote Henry Mancini, who would later win an Oscar for his soundtrack, a very nice letter of appreciation, which appears below:
“Dear Henry,
“I have just seen our picture—BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY’S—this time with your score.
“A movie without music is a little bit like an aeroplane without fuel. However beautifully the job is done, we are still on the ground and in a world of reality. Your music has lifted us all up and sent us soaring. Everything we cannot say with words or show with action you have expressed for us. You have done this with so much imagination, fun and beauty.
“You are the hippest of cats—and the most sensitive of composers!
“Thank you, dear Hank.
“Lots of love
“Audrey”
“You Always Think You’re the One to Take Care of Your Students. I Never Thought It Would be the Other Way Around”
In March 2010 in Stafford Senior High School in Fredericksburg, Virginia, Spanish teacher Myriam Lorenzo tried to swallow a bite of a chicken sandwich and started choking. She said, “It was a hard moment to describe. I knew I was in trouble. I thought I had to get out of the classroom.” Fortunately, Storm Rundman, a 17-year-old junior, saw that she was choking and in trouble. He followed her to help. Ms. Lorenzo said, “I saw him coming, but I don’t remember what happened. I think I was losing consciousness. I heard voices from very far away.” Storm said, “Everyone was freaking out. She was legitimately choking.” Storm, who is an Eagle Scout, was prepared. He used his knowledge of the Heimlich maneuver to save her life by performing the maneuver six times in 20 seconds. Ms. Lorenzo said, “It was so good to finally be able to breathe.” Not until two days later did she allow herself to eat again. She said about Storm, “He saved my life. He’s a wonderful young man.” She added, “You always think you’re the one to take care of your students. I never thought it would be the other way around.”
A Hug for a Lifesaver
In March 2009 in Cypress High School in Cypress, California, teacher Judy Rader started choking on an almond. Sam Barrera, a 15-year-old student, knew how to do the Heimlich maneuver. He realized that an aide was doing the Heimlich maneuver incorrectly on Ms. Rader, so he took over. Three maneuvers later, Ms. Rader coughed and said, “I’m OK.” She immediately started to teach the class again because she realized that students were upset by the emergency, but then she realized that she had forgotten to thank him so she stopped the class and hugged him.
“You Can’t Get Scared, Can’t Be Panicked. You Have to Stay Calm, and Do It”
In December 2010, fourteen-year-old Tristin Stavig, a freshman student at Scottsboro High School in Scottsboro, Arizona, saved the life of her teacher, Deborah Jones, who started choking on a Pop Tart and turning blue. Tristin performed the Heimlich maneuver on Ms. Jones, who said, “The second time that she did it, it [the bite of Pop Tart] just popped out, and I could breathe. I turned around and looked at her and said, ‘You do realize you just saved my life.’” Tristin had no training in performing the Heimlich maneuver; she said she was emulating an episode of the Disney Channel sitcom The Suite Life of Zach and Cody, during which a character had performed the Heimlich maneuver on another character. Tristin said, “Nobody was doing anything, and I was scared, and I thought maybe if nobody did anything she wouldn’t make it. You can’t get scared, can’t be panicked. You have to stay calm, and do it.”
“Thank You for Saving My Baby”
On 6 September 2011, in Farmham, which is part of the Lake Shore School District in New York state, school bus driver Lorraine “Lori” Golden noticed a car careening dangerously out of control and coming very close to the door of the school bus. Ms. Golden protected the three students she was dropping off by keeping them from exiting the bus. She also got a partial license plate number and a description of the car and gave it to the Brant Police Department. Ms. Golden said, “I’m very happy I could be there at that particular place and time. All my years of training and experience came in handy.” She added, “It was all in a day’s work, and I am glad I could be of service.” The next day, the grandmother of one of the children who was on her bus told her, “Thank you for saving my baby.” Ms. Golden said, “It made me feel terrific.” School Supervisor James Przepasniak showed the school district’s appreciation for her lifesaving actions, telling her, “Please accept this certificate and flowers on behalf of the Lake Shore Central School Board, as a symbol of our appreciation for your responsive actions in preserving the lives of our children and families. Thank you for your commitment, your service, and your efforts daily in our district and especially on September 6.” Ms. Golden said, “There was no place I would have rather been at that place and time that all of my training and years of service came together to circumvent what could have been a tragic scenario.” School Transportation Superintendent Perry Oddi said, “We are all so very proud of her. She’s so very modest about this incident. She looks at it as just part of her job.”
“For a Sixth-Grader, the Office Represents Authority. And He Had the Courage to Challenge that Authority”
In late 2002, wood shop teacher Fred Sotcher began to tremble in his classroom at John Montgomery Elementary School in San Jose, CA. He thought that he was chilled and so he put on a heavy shirt. He also assured his students that he was OK. Daniel Rivas, age 11, did not believe him. Daniel telephoned the front office to report that his teacher was seriously ill. At first, the front office did not believe him, but Daniel stayed on the phone, insisting that his teacher needed help. The school nurse checked on Mr. Sotcher, and quickly an ambulance arrived to take him to a hospital to be treated for a major infection. Mr. Sotcher believes that Daniel saved his life. He said, “I was very impressed with the fact that he refused to listen to me and he refused to listen to the office. For a sixth-grader, the office represents authority. And he had the courage to challenge that authority.”
24 Students = 24 Heroes
In December 2003 in Debbie Shultz’ Spanish class at Heritage High School in Conyers, Georgia, students were finishing up a test when her estranged 51-year-old husband burst into the classroom. Ms. Schultz said, “He’s brandishing a 12-inch butcher knife. We froze in time. Could not believe our eyes. I asked him what he was doing there. He rushed toward my desk, and everything unfolded after that.” He stabbed Ms. Shultz, age 46, once, and she tried but failed to grab his arm. She then cried out for help. Her students responded. Some ran for help, some called 911 on their cell phones, and some grabbed the attacker. Ms. Schultz remembered, “I said, ‘Guys, pin him down.’ … Then it was like a herd of buffalo. I didn’t see anything. And then I just heard everybody jumped on top of him and hurled him headlong into the wall. My heroes.” Scott Wigington, the 17-year-old son of the local sheriff, said, “I didn’t know what to think at first. I just jumped up and went over there and grabbed his right wrist with a knife and pulled it away from her. I just tried to get the knife away.” Another student, Nimesh Patel, said, “I froze there for a second. Me and a couple other guys grabbed him and threw him to the ground and basically sat on him until the cops came.” Ms. Schultz said that she was lucky that her estranged husband had attacked her while the students were there. She said that if the students had not been present, “It would have been a completely different outcome. I would have begun my planning period 40 minutes from that time. I would have been alone, completely alone. There’s no way I could have avoided his assault. I would have wound up, I’m certain, dead. Without my heroes, and that’s all 24 students in my class, I wouldn’t be here to talk to you.”
An Earthquake Heroine and an Earthquake Good Samaritan
Mansi Bakshi, a teacher with the Chailaya Academy in the Suthra Bali Bowli area, became a hero in October 2005 when she rescued 45 children from a school building that was collapsing during an earthquake. She was the only teacher there, and when the earthquake struck, she began taking the children out of the building, one by one. She continued to do this even as the building collapsed. On her last trip out, the building collapsed and a falling stone broke her leg. Rohit, a student, said, “I was the last when a stone fell. Madam saved me, and stone fell on her.” Subhash Chand, a resident, praised Mansi’s heroism, saying, “Otherwise, it would have been a tragedy.” Mansi’s younger sister, Sapna, also did a good deed, selling her gold earrings so that she could buy some medicine that the children urgently needed. Sapna said, “It was my moral responsibility. We were able to save their lives; it’s a big thing.”
“If I Died, It Wouldn’t Have Been Very Good”
Jerry DiIorio, a firefighter in Worchester, Massachusetts, and his ex-wife have been divorced for nine years, but they get along well and he often sees their daughter, 14-year-old Keslee, a freshman at Shrewsbury High School in Massachusetts. She said, “My dad is kind of shy. But he’s a really good dad.” In February 2011, Keslee, her dad, and one of Keslee’s friends were in his car going somewhere to eat. The two girls were eating Fireballs, a large hard candy. A Fireball lodged in Keslee’s throat, and she started choking. Keslee said, “It happened so fast. I couldn’t breathe. I thought I was going to pass out.” Mr. DiIorio heard her trying to breathe, and he pulled the car over, told her to stay calm, and performed the Heimlich maneuver on her. The Fireball flew out of her mouth. Mr. DiIorio said, “It seemed like a lifetime, but it was probably no longer than a minute. But it wasn’t a big deal. It’s just something we do. You go through the training, and it kicks in. The only thing I thought about after was, ‘What if it didn’t work?’ I’m just glad it did.” Keslee said, “I didn’t think the Fireball was going to come out. I’ve seen people do the Heimlich maneuver on TV, but I didn’t think it would work. If my dad hadn’t pulled over …” She added, “If I died, it wouldn’t have been very good.” His ex-wife, Deborah DiIorio, said, “I’m just very grateful. His first-responder training in the Heimlich maneuver, as well as his ability to stay focused without emotions, even though it was his own daughter, proved lifesaving. I probably would have been too emotionally distraught. I thought it was heroic. He’s a very involved dad, but he’s not the kind of guy who likes to be in the limelight.” Keslee said, “He saved my life, and he saves a lot of people’s lives on a daily basis. He’s a hero to a lot of people, and he’s a hero to me.” Before Mr. DiIorio became a firefighter, he cut hair at the family business, where he still sometimes cuts hair. Keslee said, “If you have a bad haircut, he can be a hero then, too. He’s a really good person, and people should look up to him.”
“A Father Who Loves His Daughter Unconditionally, and One Condition was to Lose His Life to Save Hers”
In the state of Washington, 30-year-old Alejandro Vicente-Lopez saw his daughter struggling in the Columbia River during an excursion at Willow Grove Park. Mr. Vicente-Lopez could not swim, but he went into the water and helped his daughter reach a pier in shallow water. Unfortunately, he then stepped into the more-than-40-feet-deep shipping lane of the river and drowned. Comments on the Associated Press article about his death that were published on the Seattle Times Web site provide a fitting memorial: 1) “Alejandro, job well done, finally a father who loves his daughter unconditionally, and one condition was to lose his life to save hers. May she grow up to be her father’s daughter. Because of you, she will be able to do so. Rest In Peace,” 2) “To Alejandro, young father. You did a very brave thing and it was successful. I am sorry you are lost to us,” and 3) “R.I.P., Alejandro. God will recognize you for saving your daughter.”
“It Wasn’t Just Her Coat—It was Leona Face Down in the River”
In September 2008 floods took at least eight lives in England and Wales. One person who did not die was a three-year-old girl whose father, a Royal Air Force Sergeant, saved her after she was sucked into a culvert and dragged 150 feet along a storm drain and then vomited into the River Wear in County Durham in northeast England. Leona Baxter and her older sister (Kiah, age six) were paddling in floodwater when Leona suddenly disappeared. Their father, 34-year-old Mark Baxter, said, “The kids had their wellies on and were splashing around in the puddles. I threw a stick for the dog, and that’s when my wife shouted, ‘Where’s Leona?’ I turned around and couldn’t see her, but I could see Kiah. I thought she [Leona] had just stumbled and fallen into the water and would come up again in a couple of seconds, coughing and spluttering. When she didn’t, I ran through the puddle to see if I could get her and whether she had hurt herself. At that point, I noticed there was [a] plughole effect in the water—I didn’t know what caused it. When I got close, the water was strong. I stuck my arm down the hole and couldn’t feel anything—just water swirling around. I thought it was a storm drain, and if it is going to spit out, it will be in the river.” He looked in the river and saw Leona’s coat. He said, “It wasn’t just her coat—it was Leona face down in the river. I jumped in and grabbed her. The water got up to about my shoulder level, and I put her across my shoulders. At first, Leona was not breathing, but he patted her back and she began coughing up water. He said, “As soon as Leona was coughing and spluttering and being sick, I felt much happier because she was breathing then.” Leona’s mother, 32-year-old Beverley, gave her first aid. Leona suffered from hypothermia and was treated at a hospital in Durham. Beverley said about her husband, “I really am proud of him. We feel like the luckiest parents alive. We’ve still got our family.
“It’s Coming Straight for Us”
In Mentor, Minnesota, where the weather can be bad, Heidi Michaels’ father, Wes, looked out for her and her two sisters. In June 2010, on his 58th birthday, he took the day off. Heidi was working in the family convenience store when he suddenly showed up with a warning about an oncoming tornado. He told her, “It’s coming straight for us. Get in the cooler.” Heidi, her father, and a customer ran for the cooler in a back room, but the tornado hit the convenience store before they got there. Heidi said, “The building was gone in the blink of an eye.” The rubble buried them. She said about her father, “I called out for him to save me, and he had already saved me. He took the brunt of the force and I survived because of him and I am so very, very grateful for that.” She was partly covered by her father’s body, which protected her from the rubble. He died, but she had only some cuts and bruises. Heidi said, “He is a hero to me because of that.”
SuperMom
On Good Friday, 9 April 1982, in Lawrenceville, Georgia, Angela Carter came to the rescue of Tony, her teenage son, who had removed a rear tire of his 1964 Chevy Impala and was working on the suspension. Tony tried to loosen something and rocked the car off the jack. The car fell, pinning Tony, and he lost consciousness. A neighborhood child told Angela about the accident, and she ran to the car and lifted its side a few inches—enough to keep the pressure off her son while the neighborhood child got help. She estimates that she held the side of the car up for five minutes—time for neighbors to arrive, reinsert the jack, and pull Tony out from under the car. Stories about mothers lifting cars to save the life of one of their children can be factual.
A Jump from the Second Story to Save Her Brother’s Life
Not all people do good things. In Eagle Mountain, Utah, a 10-year-old girl named Katiana and her eight-year-old brother, Kody Heath, were abused emotionally, physically, and psychologically by their aunt and the aunt’s boyfriend. In October 2008, Katiana jumped out of a second-story bathroom window. She had been locked in the bathroom without food or blankets, and she was wearing only her underwear. She said that she hoped to find a police officer: “And my wish came true.” A neighbor saw her and called the police, who found Kody, who had been locked in a different bathroom, curled up and shivering in the fetal position. His heartbeat was faint, and his body temperature was dangerously low. Utah County Sheriff James Tracy said about Katiana’s jump from the second-story window, “If she had not done it, this young man, her brother, Kody, might not have made it through the night.” Katiana and Kody spent several weeks in Primary Children’s Medical Center and a brief time in foster care, but were then reunited with their mother, Sina Vanisi, who did not know about the abuse and had let her sister take care of the children while Sina Vanisi dealt with a divorce and worked two jobs. Katiana and Kody call their mother’s new husband “Dad.” Sina Vanisi said about Katiana and her jump, “She told us she did it to protect her family. I’m glad it kicked in at the right time. She’s a brave little girl. It’s because of her that her brother is alive today and he’s fat and healthy.” The aunt and the aunt’s boyfriend pleaded guilty to several charges and were sentenced to up to 20 years in jail. Sina Vanisi said about Katiana, “She’s a kid and would say [to her brother], ‘You owe me. I saved your life.’” Katiana said, “I have to protect him a lot. But he has to protect me [too]. We’ll almost be best friends forever.”
Two Great Kindnesses
A woman who calls herself Wooka85257 online remembers two great kindnesses done for her many years previously when she became a widow while she was pregnant. She was 24 years old and three months pregnant and without money. She put her furniture in storage for three months, knowing that she would probably have to sell the furniture after that time because of lack of money to pay additional storage fees. She also moved back in with her parents, who were also without money. In early January 1971, she received anonymously a cashier’s check for $500. She writes, “I was saved! We had enough money to pay for the storage rental for nearly another year! I was so happy I smiled all day—something I hadn’t done in months!” On that very same day, her husband’s boss paid her a visit and brought gifts: three envelopes. She writes, “The first was what we were due of my husband’s salary for his last month. The second was a bonus check he had earned for the month before (which was originally due to be issued at the end of the year.) And the third was for $10,000, which was his death benefits with the company!” The third envelope was surprising because her husband had worked for the company for only six months, and to get death benefits employees were supposed to have worked at the company for one full year. She writes, “I was incredulous! How could this be? His boss explained the first two checks were due us for services rendered, and he said he used his twenty-eight years with the company to make sure they did the right thing by us. To this day I don’t know how he did it but that money saved us.” Her baby was born but needed and received 13 surgeries in his first two years of life. She writes that she “was able to stay home with him until he was healthy enough to go to a nursery school with other kids. And it allowed us to move to a little apartment of our own. In one day we had been saved by two angels with acts of kindness that touched my very soul. It was forty-one years ago but I have never forgotten them or that day. It was the day I smiled from morning to night!”
“Say I’m the Best Sister in the World”
Just before Christmas 2006, fire broke out in the house in Amarillo, Texas, where 15-year-old Allie Long was babysitting her two younger brothers: nine-year-old Milo Clausen and three-year-old Nicholas. They were watching movies in their parents’ bedroom upstairs. Ally went downstairs, where she saw smoke. The living room was filled with flames from a floor furnace. Ally went back upstairs to rescue her brothers. First she called 911, and then she went to a window—the best exit available. She dropped Nicolas onto the roof of the carport and then persuaded Milo to jump. Ally said, “I was freaking out because I couldn’t breathe.” She then yelled to neighbors for help. Neighbor Kentra Pope used a ladder to get the children down from the carport. The children’s parents, Angie Clauson and Bob Long, had been Christmas shopping. Ms. Clausen said, “It all changes when something like this happens. I’m glad we’re all together.” Mr. Long said, “You just don’t even think your house is gonna burn up.” The family celebrated Christmas in a hotel room that the Red Cross paid for. Christmas presents were different from those originally planned: socks, underwear, and other necessities instead of toys. After things had settled down, Ally teased Milo by telling him, “Say I’m the best sister in the world.” Her father said, “We’re proud of Allie and thankful for all the help we’re getting.”
“It was Bad. Jonathon and Me had to Get Out”
A week before Christmas Eve 2008, smoke began appearing in a single-wide trailer that housed five adults and two children in Sierra Vista, Arizona, in hard economic times. At first, the residents could smell but not see smoke. As they looked for the source of the smoke, five-year-old Christina Street raised her hand and then pointed to a wall and the ceiling, saying, “I saw smoke there—and there.” Barbara Saunders, Christina’s “mom-mom,” said, “Someone yelled, ‘Get the children out of here.’” Actually, it was Christina who carried her 14-month-old brother, Jonathon Tucker, out of the trailer, although he weighed 25 pounds and she weighed only 40 pounds. Christina said that she wrapped her arms around her brother’s stomach, adding, “I held Jonathon real tight.” The children’s mother, Melanie Tucker, was relieved to see her children outside the trailer. She said, “I was looking for them in the trailer and couldn’t find them.” Christina said, “Mommie was scared.” The fire had been started by a water heater that was on the floor instead of being raised a few inches off the floor—this allowed heat to build up. Firefighters quickly put out the fire. Christina remembers the fire: “It was bad. Jonathon and me had to get out.”
Disgraced Soldier was Actually a Hero
For more than half a century, World War II British Bombardier Robert Key was believed to have endangered the lives of nearby children and needlessly wasted his life by blowing himself up while playing around with a grenade on 5 September 1944, the day after Liberation Day in the small French town of Annezin, which is 50 miles south of Calais. But in 2009 his surviving relatives received a letter from the mayor of Annezin inviting them to attend a ceremony renaming a road after Robert Key, hero. Mr. Key had been blown up by a grenade, but it was not he who had been playing around with it. Instead, a local child had removed the pin. Mr. Key had grabbed the grenade and rushed away from a group of 20 children. When the grenade exploded, it had killed him instantly. When the British army had investigated the killing, the local citizens had indicated that someone was playing with the grenade. The locals meant that a child had been playing with the grenade, but apparently their remarks were mistranslated, and the British army thought that it had been Mr. Key who was playing around with the grenade. Mr. Key’s niece, Gill Mills, age 54, of Coventry, England, said, “The family never talked about Robert, and it was always an uncomfortable subject because of what it said on his service record. We are just glad that his courage has finally been revealed and we can be proud of his actions.” Annezin Mayor Daniel Delomez said that Mr. Key “was a brave hero who saved the lives of several children without thought for his own safety.”
Daring World War I Rescue
During World War I on 19 November 1915, British pilot Richard Bell Davies heroically rescued a downed British pilot who was behind the Turkish lines at Ferrijik Junction, Bulgaria. Mr. Davies and Flight Sub-Lieutenant Gilbert F. Smylie were on a mission to bomb the railway junction at Ferrijik. Mr. Smylie was forced to land his plane behind enemy lines after being hit by Turkish anti-aircraft fire. Before landing, he dropped all but one of the bombs. He was unable to restart his plane, so he set fire to it to keep it out of Turkish hands. Mr. Davies saw that Mr. Smylie was in trouble, and he started to land his plane nearby. Afraid that the bomb would explode after Mr. Davies landed and injure him, Mr. Smylie fired his revolver at the bomb to explode it before Mr. Davies landed, then he boarded Mr. Davies’ airplane just as Turkish soldiers arrived. The two escaped. Mr. Davies was awarded the Victoria Cross for his heroism; Mr. Smylie was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. This is the citation for the awarding of the Crosses:
“The KING has been graciously pleased to approve of the grant of the Victoria Cross to Squadron-Commander Richard Bell Davies, D.S.O., R.N., and of the Distinguished Service Cross to Flight Sub-Lieutenant Gilbert Formby Smylie, R.N., in recognition of their behaviour in the following circumstances: —
“On the 19th November these two officers carried out an air attack on Ferrijik Junction. Flight Sub-Lieutenant Smylie’s machine was received by very heavy fire and brought down. The pilot planed down over the station, releasing all his bombs except one, which failed to drop, simultaneously at the station from a very low altitude. Thence he continued his descent into the marsh.
“On alighting he saw the one unexploded bomb, and set fire to his machine, knowing that the bomb would ensure its destruction. He then proceeded towards Turkish territory.
“At this moment he perceived Squadron-Commander Davies descending, and fearing that he would come down near the burning machine and thus risk destruction from the bomb, Flight Sub-Lieutenant Smylie ran back and from a short distance exploded the bomb by means of a pistol bullet. Squadron-Commander Davies descended at a safe distance from the burning machine, took up Sub-Lieutenant Smylie, in spite of the near approach of a party of the enemy, and returned to the aerodrome, a feat of airmanship that can seldom have been equalled for skill and gallantry.”
Gilligan Gets Rescued from Island
Gilligan’s Island was cancelled in 1967 after three seasons, with Gilligan and the other castaways still on the island. A group of seriously ill children were concerned about Gilligan, and in 1992 their wish to the Make-a-Wish Foundation was to rescue Gilligan. Actor Bob Denver donned Gilligan’s red shirt and white hat again and waited on a West Virginia island for the children to rescue him. The children set sail on the West Virginia Bell—newly named the SS Minnow—and rescued him. For the rest of the day, Gilligan signed autographs, posed for photographs, and played games with the children.
A Real-Life Field of Dreams
Some of the very ill children who get wishes granted by the Make-a-Wish Foundation make truly awesome wishes. Sam Farris, age 11 in 2007, who has neuroblastoma, a cancer affecting the nervous system, wished for a baseball field in his own background. This kind of wish is expensive, but the Make-a-Wish Foundation and Sam’s community made it come true. Grounds crews from the University of Mississippi and Itawamba Community College donated their expertise. People donated sod, and clay, fences, an irrigation system, a backstop, and—believe it!—a scoreboard. On opening day of Farris Field, Sam rode to the baseball field in a limousine, escorted by volunteers from the highway patrol. Sam’s handpicked team of 18 children defeated the opposing team, the Briarcrest Christian School junior varsity team, 11-6. Sam scored a run and had a base hit, and he threw out the ball to open the game. Hundreds of fans were in attendance, and they chowed down on donated popcorn, soda, and hot dogs. Best of all, this is a gift that will keep on giving. Sam’s mother, Teresa, said, “We have told everybody in the community that this is their field, too, and we hope to see a lot of people out here using it. Sam is just so excited about all of this, and nothing would make him feel better.”
Ben’s Game
Ben Duskin, who suffered from leukemia, enjoys playing computer games. His wish to the Make-a-Wish Foundation was to create a computer game in which the hero—nine-year-old Ben himself on a skateboard—battles cancer cells. The game, titled “Ben’s Game,” became reality in June 2004 and can be downloaded free in both PC and Mac versions and in many languages. The game helps kids visualize fighting cancer while having fun at the same time. Patricia Wilson, Executive Director of Greater Bay Area Make-A-Wish Foundation said, “The initial response was overwhelmingly pessimistic. People told us this venture was nearly impossible without taking several years and literally millions of dollars.” Fortunately, game creator Eric Johnston, with the support of his employer, LucasArts, worked closely with Ben for months to create the game. A person who served as the game’s medical advisor was Ben’s Bay Area physician, Dr. Seymour Zoger of UCSF Children’s Hospital. Dr. Zoger said, “The science for Ben’s Game came largely from what Ben learned himself in the course of treatment.” Ms. Wilson added, “Eric and Ben achieved the impossible! Ben’s wish is inspiring, because it was selfless. […] Finding an angel like Eric Johnston was a miracle, and having the support of UCSF and [Ben’s] medical team was invaluable.” In the game, players get health from the hospital, ammo from the pharmacy, and attitude from home.
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