Confronted with danger, would you hide or help others? Here are nine examples of normal people who should be filed next to ‘brave’ in the dictionary.
The 'Woolwich Angels'.
Amanda and Gemini Donnelly Martin, a mother and daughter, comforted and prayed for Drummer Lee Rigby as he lay dying on the ground, his killers still armed and just a few feet away.
Ingrid Loyau-Kennett (below), the third of the "Woolwich Angels" to have emerged from this week's terror attack as reluctant national heroes, walked over to the two men and spoke to them, so that they'd be distracted and wouldn’t harm anyone else. "You’re going to lose," she told them. “It’s only you versus many”.
Most people react to extreme circumstances with what psychologists call "bystander apathy", a natural reaction that puts self-preservation ahead of the inclination to help others. Others step up as heroes.
Source: ITV News
Source: static.guim.co.uk
The men who stayed underground on 7/7.
On 7th July 2005, when explosives were detonated in the London Underground, hundreds of people fled the tube to safety. Timothy Coulson stayed behind. Hearing cries of pain, he smashed through the glass window of a carriage and climbed in to comfort the survivors. He found Alison Sayer, a young Australian office worker who was badly injuring and losing blood. For an hour he waited with her until rescuers arrived, then helped carry her body out of the wreckage. He saved her life.
Source: thegalleryofheroes.com
Another person who fought the incredible compulsion to run up and out into the fresh air was Steve Desborough. Travelling four carriages behind the bombed second carriage, he was one of the first to evacuate the train, but as he was trained in first aid, stayed to help. Finding one trapped man writhing and crying in pain, he stroked his back to comfort him, and later cradled a young woman to help her breathe as doctors searched the rest of the carriage.
Source: channel4.com
