Heroism Outside of One's Occupation

[planuntilthefisthits]

Many of us here have had occupations in which we routinely ran toward danger to help another (my definition of heroism), such as first responders and military members. Outside of occupational requirements and before one trained for occupations with heroic requirements, what acts of heroism did you perform, and how old were you when you decided to put yourself in danger?

I'll start: While walking along an urban street during my lunch break from my post-doc, while dressed in jacket and tie, I heard a woman scream that "He stole my purse!" I saw a guy run past me carrying a purse. I said to myself, "Hey Plan, you are a runner," so I gave chase and caught the guy and retrieved the purse. I was 28. I didn't think of that as being heroic, but later a police official informed me that was his assessment of the act.

I haven't had to place myself in that type of situation since. I know my DW would be very disappointed if put my >70 year-old body into a situation like that.

What say you: What heroic acts have you performed outside of your occupation, and what was your age at the time?

 

[Sunset]

I was about 8 years old and the family was at a park that has a slow moving river running through it. I was down by the shore and a little kid maybe 4 or 5 yrs old slipped off a rock into the water.

The kid went under and I knew that was wrong, so I jumped in and held the kids head above water until parent/adults arrived.

It was a struggle, but my parents forced me to learn to swim from birth as our summer cabin was on water and a neighbor lady had her kid drown at her cabin.

Later I became a lifeguard and did a few more paid saves as part of my job.

 

[Gumby]

It seems to me that heroism can involve a lot more than just risk to life and limb. Indeed, moral courage is often a lot harder than physical courage. Take, for example, the person who stands up to speak truth to power, the person who befriends those whom others scorn, the one who will not lie, cheat or steal notwithstanding the manifold messages from the rest of society that such behavior is perfectly acceptable, the person who will refrain from taking advantage of the weak, the one who will not abuse the trust of others even when there is an opportunity to feather their own nest, or the person who will not evade responsibility even when there is a personal cost at stake.


Of course, I've never been heroic in any fashion, so you can take what I say with a grain of salt.

 

[planuntilthefisthits]

It seems to me that heroism can involve a lot more than just risk to life and limb. Indeed, moral courage is often a lot harder than physical courage. Take, for example, the person who stands up to speak truth to power, the person who befriends those whom others scorn, the one who will not lie, cheat or steal notwithstanding the manifold messages from the rest of society that such behavior is perfectly acceptable, the person who will refrain from taking advantage of the weak, the one who will not abuse the trust of others even when there is an opportunity to feather their own nest, or the person who will not evade responsibility even when there is a personal cost at stake.


Of course, I've never been heroic in any fashion, so you can take what I say with a grain of salt.

You have a point, but I did define heroism in my OP.

 

[Gumby]

You have a point, but I did define heroism in my OP.

Yes, you did. Sorry for the hijack.

 

[latexman]

I was 5ish on a windy, dry, trash burning day. A grass fire broke out, and started heading towards our house. So, I ran into the house, got my 1 year old brother’s bottles out of the Kelvinator, and took them outside and sat them on the hood of our car. Mom was not happy, but the firemen thought I was the bomb!

I still remember that day about 64 years ago!

 

[MichaelB]

If the definition of heroism is deliberately walking (or running) toward a dangerous or life threatening situation with a purpose, I did. We were in a hotel fire, flames were visible from outside and consumed part of the 8th floor, and I knowingly walked up to the 7th floor. That’s when I learned it only takes a couple of breathes of heavy smoke to lose consciousness.

That satisfies the OP definition of heroic, but I would call it not heroic but idiotic. I was 33 and apparently not yet an adult.

I like Gumby’s broadened definition. Once can commit morally courageous acts that have severe consequences.

 

[planuntilthefisthits]

Thanks for prompting me to more clearly define my definition.

I'm curious that I now have two "Site team" members who have hijacked this thread.

 

[marko]

Sorry. I'm with Gumby. Heroism can take on a thousand different roles.

 

[Ronstar]

We occasionally ran into life threatening situations when we were doing land surveys - usually around roadways.

Once we were in a desolate area near a roadway. A pickup truck collided head on with a larger truck carrying a load of peanuts. The peanut truck driver was ok, and he walked to the closest house to call for help.

The pickup truck was in bad shape. Smoking and leaking what we thought was gasoline. We were able to get the driver out and sit him down. The passenger was on the floor of the truck wedged under the dash. Screaming and blood everywhere. I couldn't get the passenger door open. We finally found a pry bar and got the door open.

The young guy stuffed under the dash was in bad shape and tangled in the wreckage. The smoldering and gas/ whatever leak had stopped, so we felt that it would be best that we not try to remove the guy from the truck. We stayed with him / consoled him until the fire department / ambulance got there. They extricated him and got him to the hospital.

A few weeks later, we checked with the nearby home owner, and he said that he knew the young man and that he would eventually be ok.

We weren't heroes, but I guess we did run toward the danger.

 

[Lewis Clark]

I once literally put out a dumpster fire. Age around 43.

I was at work, and as I was walking past a dumpster in the parking lot I saw flames inside the dumpster.

I ran inside the building to get a fire extinguisher. Two other nearby employees and I grabbed a hose and we put out the fire before the fire department arrived.

I would not say much danger was involved since the fire was mainly contained in the dumpster. But it could have spread.

Of course, my boss never said a word about it. He was one of those bosses people leave to get away from

 

[Sunset]

It seems to me that heroism can involve a lot more than just risk to life and limb. Indeed, moral courage is often a lot harder than physical courage. Take, for example, the person who stands up to speak truth to power, the person who befriends those whom others scorn, the one who will not lie, cheat or steal notwithstanding the manifold messages from the rest of society that such behavior is perfectly acceptable, the person who will refrain from taking advantage of the weak, the one who will not abuse the trust of others even when there is an opportunity to feather their own nest, or the person who will not evade responsibility even when there is a personal cost at stake.


Of course, I've never been heroic in any fashion, so you can take what I say with a grain of salt.

I agree this is heroism, of course maybe it's self-serving of me as I have an example.

I was at a work meeting and one of the owners of the company said a pretty bald faced lie, so at question time I stood up and publicly expressed how my view of the situation was quite different from his stated view and wondered if maybe he had some extra information that supported his view which was unavailable to us.
Nobody else challenged his view.

He laid me off within a week !! I guess that counts as personal cost at stake.

 

[REWahoo]

Age 31, on a Saturday morning shopping trip to a large hardware store. The parking lot was on a steepish slope towards the store front. They were having some sort of sidewalk sale and there were several people shopping at tables set up near the entrance.

After I'd made my purchase and was walking back to where I had parked, a car came rolling downhill past me, with a woman in the passenger seat screaming for help while leaning over the center console trying to steer. I dropped my package of nuts & bolts and ran, not sure I could catch the car since it was gaining speed as it went downhill - headed directly towards the sidewalk sale.

Thankfully the driver's side window was open and I was able to reach the car, pull myself partially through the window and yank the emergency brake.

Turns out when her husband parked and went inside, he left the manual transmission in neutral and obviously had not applied the parking brake. When she (very pregnant with a two year old in a car seat in the back) noticed the car was beginning to roll, she panicked and reached over the console to steer the car down the parking row towards the entrance rather than think to apply the paring brake.

With her permission I started the car and drove it around to where it was originally parked. She was upset and very vocal, thaking me profusely while making highly unfavorable comments about her worthless, self-centered numbskull of a husband.

Once parked, she continued thaking me while quickly getting her child out of the car seat. The last I saw of her she was walking quickly towards the front of the store and continuing to express her displeasure regarding the "virtues" of her spouse.

I would have loved to have witnessed their interaction when she caught up with him, but thought better of it, retrieved my purchase and headed home.

 

[Lewis Clark]

I agree this is heroism, of course maybe it's self-serving of me as I have an example.

I was at a work meeting and one of the owners of the company said a pretty bald faced lie, so at question time I stood up and publicly expressed how my view of the situation was quite different from his stated view and wondered if maybe he had some extra information that supported his view which was unavailable to us.
Nobody else challenged his view.

He laid me off within a week !! I guess that counts as personal cost at stake.

I'll bet most of your coworkers considered you a hero for speaking up.

 

[Amethyst]

I want you guys on my side!

 

[Winemaker]

I was driving home from midnight shift and passed a triaxle dump truck, loaded with #2 limestone on the Interstate on a curve. As I looked in the rear view mirror to check whether I could return back to the right hand lane. the truck, loaded and traveling at least 65 mph, drive through the right hand guard rail and over the hill. The truck was flipping as I pulled over on the shoulder. I parked and ran down over the hill, as I was a trained as an EMT, but never attended to anyone at any of the mines I worked at. It was at the bottom of the hill, laying on its driver's side, with a small creek flowing underneath it. It took me a few minutes to get to him, and assess any diesel leaking down stream into the creek. I then climbed up to the cab, with the intention of just hearing any last words he might have for family. To my surprise, he was still alive! I told him to shut off the ignition. I reached through the broken windshield and wound down the passenger window. Well, in those few seconds, he unbuckled his seat belt, and started climbing vertical toward the passenger window! He was not using his left arm so I figured it was broken, I rushed back up to the top. He gave me his good arm and I helped him up out of the compartment. I told him to sit still and as Iwas checking him out, some woman was screaming that she was a nurse and was on the way down. I didn't see any bleeding, other than a few abrasions on his forehead. As soon as the woman got close she yelled and asked whether he was still alive. I said yes, he just climbed out of the truck. She then started to yell at me! I got down off of the truck as she was trying to get up, so I helped her up, while she was still yelling at me. I simply told her that he climbed out himself under his own power and was far more comfortable outside with his feet dangling into the cab then laying on a possible broken arm sideways, with creek water flowing through it. When I got down and she was fully on top, she let out a shreik! He had lit up a cigarette! I proceeded to go check out the wreckage and stream for any fuel leaks. While she was still freaking out at the victim, the real EMTs had arrived, and another team bringing the basket stretcher. I breifly talked to the first team, gave my assessment, the crawled back up the hill. As I stepped over the guard rail, a TV reporter, stuck a mike in my face and the camera was rolling. I told her no comment, got in my car and drove home.

When I woke up that evening, I called the hospital about his well being. Treated for a simple fracture , contusions and released. I checked out the news that night, no story. This was about 1988 and I drive that Interstate still, not daily as I once did, but a few times a year. The damaged guard rail that was replaced, still shows a different color than the rest to this day. I still remember that guy climing out, and that shreiking nurse to this day.

 

[Just_Steve]

There is a fine line between heroism and stupidity.

 

[Stormy Kromer]

I was a firefighter for 20 some years. What we did wasn't heroism, it was our job that we signed up for. There is a difference.

I did witness many acts of heroism when we arrived on calls. Especially auto accidents when by standers moved in to help before we arrived.

The best example I can think of was a bus accident we responded to about 20 years ago, this month. It was a total wreck, multiple vehicles. Including a school bus full of kids. Several fatalities and dozens of injuries. One driver's vehicle was pinned beneeth the bus. Not his fault. He was semi-counscious. I was running the extrication tools to cut him out of the wreck and he kept tellinng us "Get the kids out of the bus before you work on Me!" We did as he said. We got 17 kids out of the us then came back for him. He pulled through. He got a medal from the Governor.

That man is a hero of mine and I don't know his name. Wish I could meet him and say thanks, but that doesn't happen in the firefighting business.

 

[Calico]

I was a firefighter for 20 some years. What we did wasn't heroism, it was our job that we signed up for. There is a difference.

I did witness many acts of heroism when we arrived on calls. Especially auto accidents when by standers moved in to help before we arrived.

The best example I can think of was a bus accident we responded to about 20 years ago, this month. It was a total wreck, multiple vehicles. Including a school bus full of kids. Several fatalities and dozens of injuries. One driver's vehicle was pinned beneeth the bus. Not his fault. He was semi-counscious. I was running the extrication tools to cut him out of the wreck and he kept tellinng us "Get the kids out of the bus before you work on Me!" We did as he said. We got 17 kids out of the us then came back for him. He pulled through. He got a medal from the Governor.

That man is a hero of mine and I don't know his name. Wish I could meet him and say thanks, but that doesn't happen in the firefighting business.

Just a thought - if he got a medal from the governor, there may be an archived story online with his name. Nothing ever disappears from the internet, right?

 

[SomedaySoon]

Well it wasn't me, but it was my 38 yr old son. Last year on the NYC subway, a fight broke out on the other side of the car. Two men were fighting and one had a knife. As the fight moved toward him, the first man stabbed the second in the upper shoulder. My son jumped up, grabbed the knife hand and pushed the stabber up against the side of the car and held him there. Subway car stopped and after a few minutes, the NYPD came in, arrested the man and got the info from my son. Had to go to court and make a deposition the next day. One of the other passengers on the train told him he was a hero and gave him one of the beers from the six pack he was carrying . Told my son not to do that again......

 

[skyking1]

I've had a couple of instances with vehicle collisions.
The first one I was 19 and following a Ford Fairmont. We were driving into some very low bright sun and this car just angled off the pavement into this gravel area.
I watched in horror as it it ran into a 7-ft square boulder that had tumbled down off the cliff and had been shoved off to the side.
The back end of the car came off the ground 2 ft as the car folded into a v-shape, creased right across the roof between the front and rear doors.
I jumped out after sliding to a stop and all the doors were locked and things were deformed. I got the jack out of the back of my car and hammered out the rear door glass and then I got a hold of the door and I applied youthful strength and adrenaline and bent the door frame and got the door to open. I paid for that after the adrenaline wore off.
I went in the back over the seat and then used that same energy to push the collapsed front seat back where it belonged it had slid forward of the tracks. Then I gave first aid assistance to the victim. I won't go into the details of that.
The next year I was moving back from Seattle to the Yakima area and I had been on crutches 3 days after knee surgery. It was one of those situations where yeah I just had to hang the crutches up and get all my stuff into my brother's pickup.
So I'm sore, driving his little Toyota pickup. I come around the corner and it had one of those signs with the semi truck tipped over for people to go slow and there it was, a semi truck tipped over.
The trailer tires that were in the air were still spinning.
I run over there to see if I can help the driver and lo and behold the entire 10 gallons of engine oil was running across the very sloped road and I slipped and broke open my stitches.
I got up and then I helped the driver out the windshield. It was a cabover truck and I just helped him out the front. Not a big deal other than hurting myself. Ouch.
A lot seem to happen around that age.
In that same 19th year I was driving home in the falcon convertible and I saw a fire on the horizon up in the orchards. It was about midnight. I took a stab at which driveway it was and I got lucky and drove up about half mile of gravel that wound up through the orchard to the house.
People were home in the house and had no idea. Here's this stranger pounding on the door in the night. They came out and then we pulled vehicles away from the burning shop as best we could.
Another time a friend and I were driving up to the house and saw an evergreen tree burning right at the end of this house. It was one of those trees that was planted in a stupid spot. It grew up and it was literally touching the siding and I think kids playing with matches got it started. We jumped out grabbed the garden hose and had it put out before they could say boo.

 

[rk911]

We had just checked into a motel in Orlando and I was heading back to the car to grab the suitcases when I heard a yell/scream from the pool area. Looking up I saw a woman...presumably the mother...of a young child struggling in the water. I ram to the pool, jumped in feet first (it was shallow) and grabbed the kid from behind and lifted him or her (don't recall) above the surface and walked him/her to the side of the pool.
---

I was working overnight as armed security at a local community college, sitting in my car when I heard on my scanner a local police officer call in a traffic stop right outside the entrance to the school. I drove over just in time to see the driver attack the officer. I ran up to assist and approached the driver from the rear, grabbing one arm around his chest and the other around his neck. That distraction allowed the officer to gain control and we pushed the driver up against the side of the car. Handcuffs were applied just as another couple of squard cars arrived to assist.

 

[Flyfish1]

I applaud and respect every one of you who have done such heroic acts, especially our military personnel. Thank you , Thank you, Thank you.

I helped people but in a different way.

 

[Stormy Kromer]

Just a thought - if he got a medal from the governor, there may be an archived story online with his name. Nothing ever disappears from the internet, right?

Governor Tim Pawlenty came to our small small town personally, with very little fanfare. The person who got the medal lives the next town down the road, we've probably seen each other and never knew it. I know his name but will leave him alone.

The anniversary of this accident is coming up soon and we don't try look back at it.

 

[skyking1]

^ It's like that first wreck I posted. You can't unsee things, but they do fade with time. If you let them.