Not everybody is gifted with the ability to be brave in an emergency.
It’s one of the reasons people request to have their seats switched when sitting beside the emergency exit on an aircraft and one of the reasons emergency teams like firefighters are hailed heroes when saving the lives of others in the face of danger.
And while in the above two examples the need to respond under stressful or dangerous circumstances is foreseeably possible, encountering an event that begs stoic action isn’t so predictable for the every-day Joe.
But it happens. When timing miraculously aligns with circumstance, sometimes life asks regular Joes to act quickly and bravely. And through no fault or planning of their own, these Joes become heroes too.
John Tyler, Jake Tyler and Dale Hession are shining local examples. The men saved the life of Kitimat resident Bobby Weir by pulling him from a crashed, burning vehicle seconds before it was too late. Weir’s passenger Kevin Dawson is a hero too, surmounting injuries and shock to find help and add to rescue efforts.
And then there are youths Patrick and Nickolas Hamer along with Dayne and Parker Wright, who sprung into action to put out fire that burned two men — Jess Hansen and Murray Hamer — on a Thornhill farm, saving their lives.
These every-day Joes, both young and old, became unexpected heroes.
And blessed are many that they responded, bravely, in an emergency.