Real-life heroes prove there is still a lot of good in this world
20 Real-Life Heroes That Are Changing the World
Updated on May 22, 2025
The caped crusader
After driving past a local homeless shelter with his dad, then four-year-old Austin Perine wanted to do something to put a smile on the faces of those he had seen suffering. He used his allowance money to buy Burger King sandwiches to pass out to the homeless. He handed out each meal with a smile and said, “Don’t forget to show love!”
After dipping into his allowance to feed the homeless for a few weeks, his story went viral. Burger King heard about it and decided to chip in to help Austin’s cause. Years later, Austin is still a philanthropist as well an athlete and actor. And he wants to be president. Go Austin!
Dog’s best friend
Jarrett Little and Chris Dixon were riding their bikes outside of Columbus, Georgia, when they saw something small moving in the woods ahead of them. They both stopped to investigate, and discovered a starving puppy with an injured leg. They knew they had to rescue him, so Little carried the dog on his back more than seven miles back to town.
Andrea Shaw, an attorney visiting from Maine, happened to be nearby when they got into town. The puppy ran straight to her, licking her as if she was his owner, and she knew she had to keep him. She named him Columbo, after the town where he was found, and he now lives the high life on a farm in Maine. In gratitude for so many people’s kindness in rescuing Colombo, Andrea started the Colombo Fund to raise money for “urgent and specialty veterinary care for shelter dogs.”
Love’s last refrain
Cowboy and musician Freddie Fuller believes that music has a special power. After singing to his mother in her hospital bed when she was dying of cancer, he set out to perform “musical last wishes” for others, volunteering his time and granting wishes for the terminally ill through song. In many cases, hearing is the last sense to go for people who are dying, and Fuller wants to fill those last moments with a melody.
A white knight in the aisle seat
Soon after Savannah Phillips boarded her plane and sat down, she noticed her seatmate texting rude comments about her weight to someone. Chase Irwin, the man sitting behind her, could also see the stranger’s phone screen. He got up and demanded that the man switch seats with him. Phillips and Irwin spent the rest of the flight chatting, and he encouraged her not to let the comments her first seatmate had made get to her.
The five fingers club
Jayce Crowder was born a little differently than his classmates—he only had one hand. Several years ago when Jayce’s kindergarten classmates started teasing him, his mom didn’t know how to help. She discovered Trashaun Willis, a then eighth-grader who was missing most of his left arm, playing basketball on the news one night. A couple of months later the boys met up, and Willis taught Crowder how to be confident with his differences.
Flood rescue
Margarito Martinez was carefully driving his SUV through flooded streets when swollen creek swept away his car. The car stopped 80 feet away and was wedged into the ground. Martinez, trapped inside with the water rising around him, was sure he was going to die. Luckily, two strangers watched the incident unfold and stepped in to help. They were able to secure the SUV and break open the window with a rock so Martinez could escape to dry land.
The doctor is in
There are more than 770,000 homeless people across America, according to the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development’s 2024 Annual Homelessness Assessment Report to Congress. Jim O’Connell, MD, an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, and his team are doing something to help them get the medical care that they need. Dr. O’Connell established the first shelter medical clinic in the country in 1985, and now serves as the president of the Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program.
Planting patriotism
Twelve-year-old Preston Sharp was angry after visiting his grandfather’s grave and seeing that not every veteran in the cemetery had a flag. He decided to do something about it. He started doing odd jobs to save money to buy flags and flowers to place next to every veteran’s grave. Once the cemetery where his grandfather was buried was filled with flags, he kept going. Years later, Preston has placed over one million flags at the resting places of veterans across the nation.
Sowing hope
Reverend Richard Joyner was leading far too many funerals in his small, poverty-stricken town, and he realized he had to take action. Many people were dying of heart disease due to poor nutrition, so he called on the church youth group to help start a garden to provide the community with fresh fruits and vegetables. The kids delivered the fresh food to those who needed it.
The results were dramatic. The town’s residents lost weight, lowered their blood pressure and visited the emergency room less often. Joyner founded the Conetoe Family Life Center, which includes a working farm, apprentice program and honeybee operation and is run by children from start to finish. In 2024 the center was producing 1,500 boxes of fresh produce a week. Now in his 70s, the Reverend Joyner has added climate activist to his resume.
Landing on the freeway
After a plane’s engine failed, the only place for it to land was on a busy highway. Luckily, John Meffert, a fire department captain, was traveling on that road at the time. Right after the plane crashed, he quickly ran towards the smoke and fire. He helped the passenger, who had escaped to safety, then went back in and was able to save the captain before the plane burst into flames. Meffert and the two men he saved forged a lasting friendship after their harrowing ordeal, and stay in touch regularly.
The mountain’s on fire
Brian McGee owns several mountain cabins in Tennessee that he rents out. When he received a call that the mountain was on fire, he and his friend Matthew Layton took on unlikely roles as rescuers. Not many locals were staying on the mountain, so they had to help those who didn’t know their way out. After banging on doors and almost getting trapped themselves, they saved a total of 14 people from the flames.
Rescue in the river
Captain Gary Messina with the NYPD was on his morning run when he saw a man jump into the East River. The man was unable to swim and was screaming for help. As he was bobbing in the water, two other joggers, David Blauzvern and John Green, showed up. All three men jumped into the choppy water. After keeping the man afloat for 15 minutes, a rescue boat finally appeared. If Messina, Blauzvern and Green hadn’t jumped in that day, this heartwarming story would have had a very different ending.
Returning a soldier’s flag
While fighting in WWII, Marvin Strombo came across the body of a fallen Japanese soldier. Next to him was a flag covered in calligraphy. He took the flag and displayed it in his Montana home after he returned from war. After years of passing by it every day he realized how much it would mean for the family of the soldier to have the flag returned.
He discovered the Obon Society, an organization that helps return captured Japanese artifacts, and they were able to locate his family. He returned it to the soldier’s siblings, who were grateful to have something to remember him by since they were never able to locate his body. Strombo passed away in 2020 at the age of 96.
The boy in the septic tank
After a two-year-old boy fell into a septic tank in Dublin, Ohio, his 13-year-old neighbor was the only person able to help, as the tank opening was too small for an adult to squeeze into. Without hesitation Madison Williams sprang into action and was lowered into the hole. After some struggle, she was able to pull the boy out, and adults who were standing by got the water out of his lungs. The boy’s mother told local news that Madison was a hero.
Letting in some light
After losing a loved one it’s hard to find holiday cheer. After one family lost their son to suicide, they didn’t have the strength to decorate for Christmas. A stranger, Carson Zickgraf, stepped in to decorate their house with lights. Zickgraf makes it his mission to find families affected by suicide and lift their spirits with light. He doesn’t know the families he decorates for and he doesn’t ask for anything in return.
The call of the trumpet
Minnesotan Gary Marquardt wanted to find a way to honor veterans who had passed away. He loved the sound of trumpets ringing through a cemetery, and thought that would be a great way to contribute. But there was one problem: He didn’t know how. That didn’t stop him, though. He taught himself how to play, and each night plays to honor the veterans. He was still going strong in 2024, playing from his deck every night.
The mudslide
A mudslide had engulfed the town of Oso, in northern Washington. After receiving a frantic call from his wife, Kris Langton tried to get home. Unfortunately, the highway was blocked and he couldn’t get through. So, he got out of his car and tried to run home. Along the way, he saved multiple lives by pulling them out of the mud and getting them to safety. Luckily, when he got home his house wasn’t damaged and his family was safe. Kris was recognized by the Red Cross for his heroics.
“Did you call 911?”
Susie Powell was on her way to work when she noticed a man slumped over in his car at an intersection. She called 911, pulled him out of the car and started doing chest compressions. She saved his life, but the man never got to thank her. Months later he posted a sign to a tree at the intersection where she saved his life. The sign read: “Did you call 911 … You saved my life. Please call me.” Eventually they were able to meet up. He is eternally grateful for Powell and the kindness of strangers.
The online troll patrol
Emily Temple-Wood was 12 years old when she first got trolled online. She believed that she got hate because she was a woman on the internet. She knew that misogynists hate productive women, so for every hate comment she got she posted a biography of a successful woman in return.
She started the WikiProject Women Scientists in 2012 and posted biographies of her heroes like Barbara McClintock. Hate comments still come, but she’s found a productive way to take revenge. Nowadays, Temple-Wood is a doctor, fiber artist and cat lover, but she still has time to be an editor on Wikipedia.
The storybook barber
Barber Courtney Holmes volunteered his time one Saturday during a back-to-school event giving free haircuts to underprivileged kids in his town. He had a lightbulb moment: He should have the kids read a book to him in exchange for a haircut. He continued giving haircuts in exchange for stories every Tuesday for the next two years, helping countless kids learn new words and feel comfortable reading aloud.
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Sources:
- AARP: “Cowboy Sings to People at the End of Their Lives”
- Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program: “Jim O’Connell”
- Fox 28: “Dublin teen rescues toddler from septic tank”
- Midcoast Humane: “The Columbo Fund”
- LA Times: “Column: ‘Did you call 911?’ Here’s how one man reached out to his rescuers”
- News Channel 5 Nashville: “Mother Body-Shamed On Airplane Thanks Nashville Man For Intervening”
- Record Courier: “‘Secret Santa’ puts up Christmas lights for families affected by suicide”
- Religion News Service: “‘Not an act of God.’ How the Rev. Richard Joyner became a farmer, then a climate activist”
- U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development: “The 2024 Annual Homelessness Assessment Report (AHAR) to Congress”
- WVLT 8: “Two men rescued 14 people from wildfires”
- YouTube: “Kris Langton saves four people in Oso, Washington mudslide”
