Sometimes, ordinary people find themselves in extraordinary situations —
situations that require quick thinking, selflessness, and courage.
When these once-in-a-lifetime scenarios present themselves, average people can rise to the
occasion and become heroes.
Today, we’ll be looking at seven more real-life heroes caught on camera.
These stories will remind you how many truly good people (and animals!) are out there willing
to help each other when needed.
Seconds to Spare
On December 22, 2016, an ordinary day at work became a once-in-a-lifetime experience for
a fast-acting mechanic in Jambi City, Indonesia.
The mechanic, Zuki Chen Azm, can be seen squatting down as he fixes a motorbike in the garage where he works.
Zuki’s two young children are playing nearby when suddenly, everything changes.
As an out-of-control car comes slamming into the garage area, Zuki reacts with lightning-fast reflexes.
He stands, grabs his children, and then pulls them out of the path of the speeding vehicle in
a matter of seconds.
The car only barely misses hitting the trio as Zuki expertly rolls backwards out of the way.
Security camera footage of this amazing moment was shared to Facebook, where it gathered
millions of views.
It was later determined that the accident had been caused by the driver having an epileptic seizure.
Both of Zuki’s children were perfectly fine following this harrowing experience.
What an incredible example of fatherly protection!
Diving to the Rescue
On November 14, 2020, British diplomat Stephen Ellison went above and beyond the call of duty.
Ellison, who serves as the consul general in Chongqing, China, had no idea as he was
walking in a nearby village, that he was about to save a life.
Footage captured by a witness shows the terrifying moment a 24-year-old student slips on some
rocks and falls into a river.
As the young woman flails about, the surrounding crowd begins to panic.
She passes under a small bridge, and when she emerges on the other side, she is already
face down in the water.
Stephen Ellison quickly leaps into action, removing his shoes and jumping fully clothed
into the water.
He swiftly gets a hold of the woman and, with the help of a life belt, brings her safely
back to the water’s edge.
The harrowing video quickly went viral.
Ten days after the incident, Ellison was presented by the government with a traditional jinqi,
a crimson banner signifying gratitude for his heroic act.
The student, who is from Wuhan and attending Chongqing University at the time, made a full
recovery, but was understandably shaken by the event.
She was very grateful to Ellison, and even invited him to dinner with her family.
Luckily for her, this brave man was in the right place at just the right time.
Heroes Behind Bars
What if someone needed help mere feet away from you, but you were unable to reach them?
That’s exactly what happened on June 23, 2016 at a Texas jail.
Guard Gary Grimm was supervising several inmates in a holding cell at the Weatherford District
Courts Building, when suddenly, the tables turned.
Security footage partially shows Grimm in the bottom right corner, losing consciousness
as he suffers a heart attack.
He slumps over and falls down, while the inmates in the holding cell look on in alarm.
Unable to reach Grimm, the inmates think quickly and force the cell door open.
Some of the handcuffed men rush to Grimm’s side while others call for help.
Thanks to the inmates who jumped to action, deputies arrived and called paramedics to the scene.
If the jailed men had not acted to help the only person guarding them, he could have lost his life.
Grimm had stopped breathing and had to be revived by emergency responders with CPR and a defibrillator.
Fortunately, he returned to work just a few days after this scary incident, thanks to
the help he received from the other side of the bars.
Grimm said - “If they wished harm for me, all they had to do was sit there and do nothing.
Instead of overtaking me and taking my gun, and killing me or taking a hostage and escaping,
they looked at me as a human being.”
Jumping to Action
While police officers are often called on to act heroically, one officer in Lodi, California
went above and beyond to save a life under incredible circumstances.
On August 12, 2020, Officer Erika Urrea and Sergeant Steve Maynard were on a routine patrol
when they spotted something alarming: a 66-year-old man in a wheelchair, stuck on railroad tracks,
with a train speeding toward him.
Without a second thought, Officer Urrea’s bodycam captures the moment she parks her
patrol car and sprints to the tracks.
‘Can you get up?’
‘Get up!’
‘Steve, call 9-1-1, I need an ambulance now!’
With only seconds to spare, the officer manages to pull the man out of harm’s way just as
the train slams past them and crushes the wheelchair.
The man, who was not identified, suffered only a leg injury and was taken to the local
hospital to be treated.
Officer Urrea described her thought process during the harrowing event: “I was trying
to figure out 'OK, where's the train?
I don't know how fast the train is going.
How much time do I have?'
But my goal was, 'I need to get him off the tracks.’”
Because Officer Urrea was driving by at just the right time, and because she selflessly
put her own life in danger to free the man, she undoubtedly prevented a tragedy on the
tracks that day.
Rover to the Rescue
Human beings aren’t the only ones who perform heroic deeds, especially in life-or-death situations.
On April 29, 2018 in Mesa, Arizona, something incredible happened in the backyard of Laurie
and Jay Becerra’s home.
Their dog, Smokey, and Laurie’s daughter’s dog, Remus, were playing in the yard when
all of a sudden, Smokey broke through a protective fence and fell into the family swimming pool.
As Smokey struggles to get out of the water, Remus looks on, realizing his friend needs help.
Remus paces back and forth, trying to guide Smokey to the steps of the pool, but Smokey
continues to struggle, having trouble keeping his head above water.
The incredible footage then shows Remus jumping into the water to save his friend, pushing
Smokey upward so he can climb over the pool’s edge to safety.
With no humans witnessing the fall, Smokey could have easily drowned if it weren’t
for Remus’s bravery and willingness to jump in after his friend.
Both dogs were unharmed after this frightening episode, and the Becerra’s bought a bright
orange life vest for Smokey to prevent any future scares.
Remus’s heroic act proves that pups are not only man’s best friend, but each other’s as well.
A Fast-Acting Feline
It’s not only dogs who go above and beyond when someone is in trouble.
On October 31, 2019, a very smart Siamese cat intervened to prevent a human tragedy.
When Samuel León, who was just one year old, was playing at an office in Bogota, Colombia,
his only companion in the room was Gatubela the cat.
Samuel was playing happily near his crib, until he began crawling across the floor toward
incredible danger.
A security camera captures Gatubela watching Samuel from a nearby couch as the baby begins
crawling to a doorway just out of frame: a doorway that opens onto a flight of a dozen steep stairs.
Gatubela senses the danger and leaps to Samuel’s aid.
In an incredible demonstration of intelligence, the cat rushes off the couch and pounces on
Samuel, placing herself between the baby and the dangerous stairwell, then uses her front
paws to force him backwards to safety.
Baby Samuel had managed to get out of his crib, but with no adults in the room at the
time, Gatubela was the only thing standing between him and a potentially fatal fall down the steep flight.
Samuel’s father, Jesid Leon, described the close bond between his son and Gatubela:
“The cat has been part of our family practically since birth, we had her here when she was
a month, and she has become familiar with my children.
She is two months older than my son."
Fortunately, Samuel was unharmed thanks to this heroic feline intervention.
A Good Samaritan
One evening in August 2017, Ivan Zolotarev set out on what he assumed would be a typical
trip on his motorbike.
But as he rode through an area near Moscow, he came upon a shocking sight.
Footage from Zolotarev’s helmet camera shows him approaching a highway overpass.
As he gets closer, he does a double take.
On the bridge above him, a man has climbed over the railing and looks like he’s about
to take a fatal leap to the concrete below.
Zolotarev wastes no time in making an incredible decision: he begins to make a dangerous U-turn,
risking his own life to get to the shoulder of the highway.
He rides back to the bridge and begins speaking to the man above him.
Hey!
No!
Don’t do that!
Let’s talk.
Let’s have a chat.
Let’s go for a ride!
Let me take you for a ride, Let me ride you on my motorcycle!
Let’s go for a ride!
After several tense moments, the man climbs back over the railing to safety.
Zolotarev quickly drives to the overpass, where he and the disoriented man speak more
and are joined by another concerned motorist.
Hey, what’s wrong? Want to go for a ride?
What’s up?
I saw you standing there
and came by just to ask how you are doing
Is anything wrong?
Why are you so sad?
The man was reportedly in the process of hitchhiking to attend his mother’s funeral and may have
suffered a nervous breakdown.
First responders arrived just minutes later, and thanks to Zolotarev’s selfless act,
they were able to help.
Which one of these videos was your favorite?
Have you ever witnessed a heroic act in the moment, or captured it on video?
Have you ever stepped in yourself during an extraordinary situation?
Share your story with us in the comments.
And as always, thanks for watching!