Everyday Heroes

My Compassionate Son...and a Resilient Hamster

My youngest son, who is 22, inspires me and is one of my heroes.

It was a typical night for us. We were just preparing to call it a night [when] we heard...an outside fire alarm. As we opened our front door, [we saw that] the building next to ours was largely engulfed in fire!

I ran to join our neighbors furiously banging on doors, hoping to alert everybody to get out. A few minutes later, I [realized] I couldn't find my son [who was 12-years-old at the time]. I frantically ran around the burning building. Just as I was launching [into] panic mode, my neighbor said, "Steve, your son is over at the community clubhouse, making coffee for people." My son was opening his heart and reaching out on his own.

Two weeks after the fire, I got an excited phone call from my son at work, which I will always cherish. "Dad! I found Rattle--and he's alive! Can you believe it Dad?" Rattle was our young friend's hamster [who went missing during the fire]. Matt searched the rubble, saw motion, and there he was! "Dad, he smells like smoke, but he is alive!" That afternoon, sitting in my office, I cried and could not wait to get home, hug my son, and tell him that he had behaved as God does for us. I grew that day thanks to a child and a tough little hamster named Rattle!

--SChapman

The Doctor Who Saved My Baby's Life

I have a personal story about someone I consider to be a hero. On May 29, 2003 my daughter Kaitlyn was born. Within her 11th hour of life, Dr. Fredrick Leong, Pediatric Cardiologist diagnosed her with transposition of the great vessels. He told us that open-heart surgery was imminent, and crucial in order to save her live. He immediately transferred her to U.C.L.A. via ambulance for the surgery.

The cardiac team at U.C.L.A. performed the surgery and the P.I.C.U. team monitored her and kept her alive. Everyone there is a hero too. Because of Dr. Leong's accurate diagnosis and quick action, we were able to take our beautiful daughter home when she was two-months-old. She is our miracle baby, and Dr. Fredrick Leong is a hero to many families, not just ours.

--dovemom

Small Acts of Kindness

How about that young man/woman who dresses weird, has body tattoos and metal objects stapled on them, who take the time to help a crotchety old person across a busy inter-section? How about that [tough] looking male sitting in the subway car who gives-up his seat for a toddler? Or maybe that faceless/nameless individual who is out of work giving one of their last dollars to another nameless/faceless young mother with two children who cannot quite come up with the full amount at the grocery store check-out line?

People who "accidently" come into contact with another and do these very small acts of heroism (or perhaps we can call it kindness) on a daily basis, get no reward and are not looking for anything. Heroes come in small packages and they come in very large, bigger-than-life packages. They come with disabilities. They come from impoverished inner-city dwellings. They also come with mega bank accounts. All sizes, all shapes, all color and stripe. They do "small" things for their fellow human yet "large" things in the eyes of God.

--klauden