When steel magnate Andrew Carnegie set aside over $175 million [in 2024 dollars] to support those who’d performed heroic acts, his criteria included:

1. The life of a human victim must be in imminent danger of being lost without intervention; this must be believed by the rescuer.
2. The rescuer must be a civilian who knowingly and voluntarily risks death or serious physical injury to an extraordinary degree.
3. The rescuer must have rescued or attempted the rescue of another person.

Since 1904, 10,422 people from the United States and Canada have been honored. Here’s the nomination form

Ages can  range from teenager to elderly. Adding this year’s honorees, 10,422 have received the award since 1904. Among those recognized this year were:

Junyi Liu, A Fiery Escape

On May 20, 2023, Junyi Liu was working as co-owner of a Comox, British Columbia gas station a woman’s car struck a gas pump. As Lin turned off the pumps’ electrical breakers, flames erupted from the car’s front end and a gallon of gas caught fire. Then propane spilled onto the woman’s vehicle, flowing from burned rubber nozzles on a nearby dispenser.

Flames flared ten feet high as Liu tried to release a fire extinguisher’s pin, but it was too tight. After trying to reach the woman from the passenger door, he ran to the driver’s side. By the time Liu pulled the woman to safety, flames filled the entire carport.

The woman was in shock, with burns to her face. Liu’s hand and arm were also burned.  Read More.

Robyn Handley, Savage Dogs

On Dec. 22, 2020, Robyn Handley heard screams. She ran barefoot from her Florissant, Missouri  home, waving and shouting at four pit bulls that were biting into a woman’s body, limbs and had torn off parts of the woman’s scalp. While the dogs circled in a nearby yard, Robyn’s calls for help drew another woman. The dogs also attached her.

By the time Robyn again chased the dogs, another neighbor arrived. He loaded the first woman into his car to await medics. She continues to recover from scalp  and leg wounds, plus severe eye and facial damage.  The second woman was treated for bites to her legs.

The dogs later attacked two more people. One was hit by a car. The other three were caught and euthanized. All three women were in their mid sixties.  Read More.

‘Hero’ comes from ancient words meaning demi [half, unfinished, almost]-god and to watch over, to protect. A “Random Act of Kindness” qualifies, as in this post’s video.

Imagine a world where everyone goes to bed a hero.

Succeed and Soar!

Heroes can come at all ages. Here, a 4-year-old opens an elderly widower to a love he didn’t know existed.

First aired November 18, 2016.