In a world that seems to have bad stuff happening all the time, these stories will help show you the brighter side of humanity.
Mommin’ Like A Boss
I was about 10, and was swimming in the ocean with my three little siblings and my mom, who was holding my little brother because he was still a baby. All of a sudden she screams out, in terrible pain, then yells ‘FEET UP, SWIM TO SHORE, NOW!’ She grabs my little sister, She is limping, holding my brother and sister when she screams again and falls backwards, all the while holding my baby brother 6 inches above water and my sister over her shoulder to avoid the f_cking SCHOOL OF STINGRAYS that were passing by and we had trampled all over. We made it to shore, she had three stings total on her right leg, one in her foot and had to be hospitalized for two days. None of us got stung at all. Mommin’ like a boss.” Source
Tom The Hero
I was about 10 when: my dad was driving, a friend of his was in the passenger seat (“Tom”) and I in the back, late at night, and we drive up to damaged van and a flaming car standing in the middle of the motorway – obviously a crash. Flaming… I mean, this car had flames everywhere, it was fully ablaze. The van driver was sitting on the median, in shock, apathetic.
We stopped of course, and a guy runs up asking whether anyone has a phone (these were the old days, phones were rare). My dad has one, and calls emergency services, describes the scene, gives all the info, etc… This takes a few minutes, and just as dad hangs up, the passenger door opens, and “Tom” (with blackened face) sits down. We hadn’t even noticed he was gone. Apparently when the car stopped, he immediately got out, ran over to the burning car, pulled out three unconscious teenagers and laid them on the shoulder… Like a boss. Others then set about doing first aid. We all drove off again when the ambulance arrived. Dad obviously did the right thing, calling emergency and staying with his kid, so no disrespect. But “Tom” was the hero. The teenagers, I guess, never knew who saved their lives. Source
Hero Dog
When I was a little kid I lived on a farm that was bordered by a river. My cousins were visiting, and one of them was sitting on the riverbank (she must have only been 5 or 6 at the time). It had rained recently so the river was high and swift. She fell into the river and couldn’t swim back to shore. Her mom jumped in to save her. She was strong enough to swim back to shore but couldn’t get back while holding her daughter. While my family was freaking out our nice and obedient golden retreiver, Charmer, jumped in and safely pulled them both back to shore like a motherf_cking boss. He was probably the best dog we had. Source
Alpha Dad
We were driving by a local park when my dad saw a kid hit another kid twice in the back with an aluminum baseball bat. He parked the car in the middle of a fairly active road, jumped out of the car and ran over there yelling the word “STOP” so loudly, deeply, and aggressively that everyone in the neighborhood is probably still pooping themselves. The kid immediately dropped the bat and started to run but my dad tackled him. My mom had to run back to our house (only a few blocks) to call the police because cell phones weren’t really around then. Kid was something of a neighborhood menace and got sent to Juvi, the victim was fine except for some major bruising. My dad said the next shot was aiming for the kid’s head so he probably prevented even worse things from happening. Good job Dad! Source
Young Hero
I was about 14ish. I was sleeping over at a friend’s house. The house next door started on fire. His parents woke us up to leave the house. When he realized what was happening, he popped up out of bed, jumped out the window, climbed off the roof of the house and ran over to the neighbor’s. Broke through a window and fireman carried the two retired people out of the house. He rescued them and their two dogs. Afterward the fireman asked how he knew they were in there. He said, ‘I didn’t, I just remembered the old man telling me one day that they had one of those chairs to go up the steps installed. I just knew inside me that they couldn’t get down the steps.’ It was pretty crazy. It made the papers and he got one of those police citation award things or whatever they are called. Source
Ali The Driver
This is my dad’s story, because nothing exciting had ever happened to me. In 1970 in Bangladesh, there was a lot of turmoil due to the war for independence and my father was a university student. Back then, university students were sought by Pakistani officers especially so because they tended to cause more problems for the Pakistani army. Because of this very reason, my father kept two ID cards on him, one was his University ID and the other was a fake salesman’s ID he kept on him, he even grew a mustache and combed his hair to the side to stick with his salesman’s facade. On his way home towards his home village, my dad had gotten stopped by a Pakistani Officer who immediately asked for his ID, my dad reacting with little time, pulled out the student ID by accident instead of the Salesman’s ID. The officer immediately pulled him to the side. The officer asked my dad if he was a freedom fighter to which my dad replied he wasn’t. The officer then showed an ID of one of my dad’s friends and the officer said he had killed him earlier that day. My dad at that point was distraught and that’s when my grandfather showed up. He was already into his 70’s and was a frail man. After my grandfather tried reasoning with the officer, the officer hit him in the stomach with the butt of his rifle.
The officer then put my father up against a wall and commanded three of his soldiers to execute my dad. Right afterward, Ali, my dad’s driver (it’s a commonplace practice for the middle class to have drivers) ran up to the officer and told him “These are good people you’re killing, You’re most certainly going to hell for killing him.” The officer then considered this for a moment and decided to let my father go. So Ali the driver saved my father’s life. The Pakistani Officer killed about 200 people indirectly or directly in that village; eventually he was killed and his body was cut up into pieces and paraded around the village. Source
Wow
My dad is a Managing Director for a Brokerage firm and his office is located only 10 minutes from our house in NJ. However, there is a NY firm. My dad lost about 60% of his closest friends on 9/11. He was some of their last phone calls, seeing they couldn’t get in touch with their family and he was not only their friend on a business level, but also a very personal level as well. He spoke to almost 20 of his friends before they either jumped out of the buildings, or died of some other cause. That same day, he stayed on the phone for over 3 hours with his firm that was stuck in their World Trade Center building and witnessed the events and everything that happened. I cant ever imagine going through what he did that day. Source
Spidy Senses
My family of 5, my uncle and his girlfriend, and my grandparents (3 total) went one morning about 10 years ago to a diner near our home. The 10 of us, with my dad at the head of the table, back facing the wall which was the parking lot side, were enjoying our meals. An old man, while pulling into the diner, failed to hit the brakes and instead hit the gas going full speed through the wall, crushing the wall down and running over the people sitting at the booths. My father, having insane and crazy reactions and instinct times, within a split second, pulled one of the diner tables and created a wall that took a majority of the impact away from the car and blocked both my sisters. They both were okay, and my dad was okay also.
It’s not so much “heroic” but it is certainly something I have always found absolutely amazing. Source
Sometimes It’s The Small Things That Have The Biggest Impact
It was a small thing: I am a cashier/checker at a grocery store and my state has a program for new mothers who are in poverty; they provide them with the baby formula and nutritious food the baby needs to be healthy. Now, baby formula can run VERY expensive and a new mother (with twins) had come up to my line to cash in a check for several cans of formula. But when she took out the check she noticed that it had expired two days ago and broke down crying trying to figure out how she was going to feed her children. At that moment the older gentleman in line behind her tapped her on the shoulder and offered to buy them for her, the total was well over $100. I know that ~$100 is not very much in the grand scheme of things but the moment did give quite a boost to my faith in humanity. Source
Thank God For Nurse Moms
When I was very young (probably around 4-5) I was at a beach in Southern California. As usual, there were tons of people all over the place. However, two kids in particular had decided to dig their boogie boards into the sand and proceed to chuck rocks back and forth at each other. There were probably 20 feet or more spaced, each with a large pit behind the board where they were digging up rocks to toss. Obviously, not the brightest thing, but it went from play to deathly serious in about two seconds when an oblivious kid walked between the boards. Both of the rock chuckers had stopped momentarily to dig and find more rocks. One of them apparently find a good sized rock, stuck his head and full on threw the rock while yelling. There was no hesitation, and he failed to see the kid walking in between the boards.
What happened next freaked me out…which is probably why I still remember. My mom was a nurse at the time, and we happened to be sitting about 20-30 feet away, basically, in plain view of the whole thing. The kid walking inbetween the boards turned towards the kid yelling and throwing the rock. He caught the rock right between his eyes, which embedded in his skull and split his head open. The kid dropped and started screaming as blood literally exploded from his forehead. My mom grabbed my shirt and ran to the kid without thinking and yelled for someone to get the lifeguard. Afterwards, I learned that she literally held this kids head together as they waited for emergency services to arrive. Crazy stuff. Source
Super Life Guard
Couple years back, I was at a beach near the Okanagon. There was a life guard on duty at the beach. All of a sudden, he takes of sprinting into the water, swims out and pulls out a little kid who got tangled in his lifejacket. I don’t think anybody else on the beach noticed the kid at all. But somehow the lifeguard spotted him. Source
What A Woman
I work for one of my closest friends. I run his office. His wife used to, but she was diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder that is comparable to rheumatoid arthritis on steroids. She is on so many different medications that she can not hold a conversation more than two minutes. I have to take her to her arthritis center for treatment and relay to doctors her problems because she has difficulty conversing….and I would not change the hecticness of being so involved with their family for the world because I know she would do the same. Anyways….she was out at the lake in our town getting some sun. She LOVES the outdoors even though she has difficulty walking. She was at her campsite when she heard screaming. A woman was hit head on by a boat that was following closely and blood was flowing. Without a minute of hesitation, my boss’s wife RAN inside of her camper, grabbed all of the sheets, went running back to the woman on shore, fell along the way and snapped her right ankle and left wrist…but got up and kept running. She pushed everyone aside, wrapped the lady’s head up and applied pressure and held it there for twenty minutes for the EMTs to show up. Our town just recently terminated the ambulance and EMT service and hired a private company, therefore it took forever. Unfortunately, the woman died, and my boss’s wife had to explain to the woman’s husband (while covered in her blood) that it was indeed his wife. This woman needs help getting up her stairs on a daily basis…but in an instant, she overcame the pain and stepped up. Mentally, she is in an absolute cave right now, but I know she is able to fight her way out. I only wish the world was full of more superheroes like her. Source
The Most Interesting Man Alive? (Part 1)
My grandfather told me a few stories about things he did in his lifetime, here are three of the best:
He was a paratrooper in Korea (101st) and while deployed and on the ground, he and his buddies were in foxholes. He and his buddy shared a foxhole, and they were next to about 4 other foxholes all occupied by other service members. My grandfather was a sergeant, and shared the foxhole with a Private First Class. The Private goes to light up a smoke and when he does, my grandfather pushes the private to the bottom of the fox hole. Seconds after, two guys in the foxhole next to them (who were smoking) got shot by a sniper (one bullet). They both died. So on top of my grandfather saving a friends life, he still pulled the bodies out of the line of fire, even though he learned soon that it didn’t matter. Source
The Most Interesting Man Alive? (Part 2)
My grandfather moved to Alaska in the 70’s as was a State Trooper. One of his unofficial duties was to fine people for hunting out of season. While driving his truck down an old country road (not even gravel) he see’s a truck with hunting gear in the back. He pulls over, and walks into the woods. The hunter had fallen through ice, and had nearly lost consciousness. My grandfather lays on the ice, and manages to pull the bastard up and off the ice. That guy lived. Source
The Most Interesting Man Alive? (Part 3)
Also while he was a state trooper, he heard on the radio about a house fire. Being close to the location, he drives there. Upon arriving, he notices he is the first officer there. There is a woman screaming outside that her children are still in the house. My grandfather, without time to even think, breaks down the door and rushes into the house. He runs up the BURNING steps to a bedroom, grabs the two children around their waists, and runs back again down the stairs outside into the snow. The house collapsed shortly after he got out. Without a doubt he saved those children. Source
Super Mom
My dad was violent and got our family (mom, dad, little brother, me) kicked out of more apartments than I can recall. He left when I was five or six.
My mother had absolutely nothing except her parents, and my grandfather was extremely sick, so they had no money. My brother and I grew up in poverty, apparently.
I only found out a few years ago. I have nothing but happy memories of the time after my dad left. We had toys and clothes and birthday parties and all the sh_t that normal kids had. My mom and grandmother (grandfather passed away a long time ago) got drunk on wine and told us the part of the story one holiday. We figured out the rest.
I love my mom. She took all that hell into herself and never told us a word about it. We had Ninja Turtle toys and Darkwing Duck cakes, she had three jobs and no life beyond my brother and me. Source
Dad’s A Hero
A few years ago my family and some friends and I were heading home on our boat after having spent the day anchored in a popular swimming cove. It was an hour or so before sunset so the waters were pretty busy with people heading back to their slips. Most notably there were two jet skiiers who were rocketing around in our wake, trying to get air. They must have gotten bored of this and decided to pass us. They speed up and there is one on either side of our boat. They were starting to get dangerously close, so My father’s friend (an ex-navy pilot) who is driving, honks the horn a few times and tries to wave them off. No response – either they don’t hear or they don’t care. Just as my father’s friend says he is going to slow down to let these idiots get ahead of us, one of the jet skiiers, who is apparently unaware of the boat’s presence, cuts hard to his right… directly into the path of our boat.
My father’s friend can’t swerve to avoid him without running the other jet skiier over and there is no way he can stop in time to let the jet skier go in front… So he cuts the engine and goes hard to the left knowing it’s better if the idiot hits the the hull instead of the bow. The sound of the engine being cut FINALLY catches the attention of the dude we are about to run over MILLISECONDS before the impact. He has just about enough time to see the boat and them WHAM
There is an awful shuddering sound and then thudding all along the bottom of the boat. At this point we had glided to a stop and my mother had ushered all the smaller children into the cabin because we had no idea what this was going to look like. We are all scanning the water when we see the mangled jet ski jump out of the water about 30 feet behind us; a moment later, the jet skiers body does the same. The guy was floating face down, not moving. My mother started screaming, I nearly passed out and my father’s friend was already on the radio for help. But my father? Without hesitation the man dove into the water fully clothed (shoes, wallet, sunglasses – everything) and started swimming toward what appeared to be a dead body and a jet ski now leaking fuel into the water. I start screaming for him to come back – the water we were in was 30 feet deep and there was gas everywhere. I was terrified…
My father made it to the body, shook the guy and turned him over. The jet skier’s head lolled. My father then pinched the guys nose and gave him mouth to mouth until he sputtered back in consciousness. Almost immediately, the jet skier started flailing in panic (probably having a delayed reaction to having seen a boat about to run him over). That’s when he pushed my father underwater. My father got away and swam back up – they were pretty far away but I heard him yell something along the lines of “I will hit you” or “Don’t make me hit you” and the jet skier calmed down a little… Until he saw the tangle of metal that was once his jet ski, that is… The jet skier (who we found out later had shattered his collar bone and most of the bones in right arm AND leg) started trying to swim toward the jet ski. My father tried to hold him back but didn’t want to hurt him – the jet skier managed to get back to the jet ski and STARTED TO TRY TO TURN IT BACK ON.
My father started screaming because he knew that if anything in that engine moved that the explosion would likely kill them both AND his family and friends floating nearby. That’s when my father grabbed the guy by the life jacket and dragged him away from the wreckage. Once they got a few feet out he held onto the guy with one hand and took off the shirt he was wearing with the other – meanwhile the jet ski idiot was so delirious from the accident that he STILL kept trying to swim back to the jet ski. My father then proceeded to tie the delirious idiot’s arms to his sides and drag him back to our boat. Source