12 Stories That Show Courage Is the Greatest Superpower

They fight injustice, save lives, and make a difference in society—it’s not Superman or Batgirl; it’s actually the boy next door, the mom across the street, and even the reflection in the mirror. Unassuming heroes live among us, and sometimes, they are us; because it only takes one moment of selfless courage and extraordinary bravery to define a true hero. Here are 12 stories of people who fearlessly stepped into their power.

1. The definition of brave

I left everything behind for family. I had built a pretty decent life for myself, but it all came crashing down when my mom got diagnosed with cancer. I guess that’s life. Ebbs and flows. Highs and lows. I left it all behind, moved back home and supported her through this cancer journey. reviews / Reddit

2. A husband’s Hulk moment

One night my wife and I fell asleep downstairs on the couch. Kids just happened to be staying at grandma’s that night. Someone kicked in our front door and broke in during the middle of the night. It took 2 kicks to get the door open, which is important. I heard the first kick, woke up, second kick, and now I’m awake enough to immediately understand what is happening. I jumped up and over the couch in one pretty cool move, if I do say so myself, and started screaming and running towards the front door. According to my wife, I’m a scary looking guy. Shaved head, tattooed up, and a 6’3″ gym rat. So here I am, screaming at the top of my lungs, charging the front door. They see me charging and immediately turn around and jump into the running truck parked outside and drive away. I make chase, but they’re gone.

As brave as it sounds, it really wasn’t. It was honestly all instinct, no actual thought process on my part whatsoever. It happened so fast I didn’t have time to think. When I said I was screaming, I don’t mean actual words or anything, I wasn’t coherent enough for words. It was literally just an “Aaaaaaaahhh!” as I charged the door. I had no plan, no idea what would have happened if they didn’t turn around and run. Not sure I was thinking enough to actually do anything besides run and scream. Old_Goat_Ninja / Reddit

3. Granny the hero

I rescued my border collie from a fast flowing river in the winter, fully dressed and up to my chest in water. It was probably an incredibly stupid thing for a 50+ woman to do, but he was swimming hard towards me and still being taken backwards by a whip of current. donnablonde / Reddit

4. Braving the storm

My uncle saved two fishermen’s lives on a stormy Canadian lake. We watched from shore as they tried to cross this huge lake with a storm coming up and waves building. He said they were going to dump. They capsized. It was early June, 1981 or so, the water was very cold. He dropped us off at a little island as we were close to shore but not right at camp, and he drove a 12-foot fishing boat out into the middle of the lake through the storm, hoisted them both out, brought them to shore, and 100% saved their lives, I have no doubt. The bravest thing I’ve ever seen. Wagyu_Trucker / Reddit

5. Thank you stranger!

My family and I had gone to a steep waterfall in Chikmanglur, with strong clear water, pouring very heavily. I was climbing up and I slipped backwards; there was nothing to hold on to and no way to get balance back, until some guy caught my arm.

Scientifically speaking my weight should’ve dragged us both into the waterfall. While on that slope, I couldn’t fathom the kind of reflexes, strength and courage needed to do something like that. He didn’t even have anything on the other side to hold onto. It’s a little blurry so I think eventually a few of his friends helped him too. But to have that grip for even a few minutes takes a lot of strength.

I was shook from the whole thing and so was my family. I didn’t even register his face and none of us even said thank you. If I’m alive today I owe it to him. Menu99 / Reddit

6. Superspeed

When my son was less than 2, he fell backwards off a wall, in town. I’m not even sure what happened but I remember moving the quickest I’ve ever done in my life and cradling the back of his head with my palm, so it didn’t hit the concrete. It was such a weird experience, and the little bugger had no idea that I’d saved him, he stood up and just smiled at me. Meanwhile some random ladies saw the whole thing and was just like ’wow’. Hurgnation / Reddit

7. Need a hand?

I was at an outdoor music festival in the heat of summer when there was a delay in the setup of the next band. We were in the middle of the crowd, and the energy was becoming very tense. People started throwing flattened water bottles across the crowd and at the stagehands, who were moving as fast as they could to fix the issue as quickly as possible.

By the time the preshow music started, the crowd began to sway involuntarily as people pushed from the back. My friends and I agreed it was time to go, but as we tried to move sideways out of the crowd, the band came out—and everyone rushed forward.

A 300lb dude fell on my friends and me, and it took five men to get him off of us, while others around us tried to hold back the rush. As soon as we were up and moving again, a mosh pit broke out around us. I will never forget the 6’5″ man with a red Mohawk who saw our trouble and shouted, ’The only way up is out!’ He offered us his hands to step on, then tossed us up to crowd surf our way out.

I almost lost my shoe while crowd surfing, but we made it out safely and hung back for the rest of the show. butytho92 / Reddit

8. Elevator rescue

I got trapped in the elevator after working late. Nobody was supposed to be in the building after dark. My phone had died, and I was starting to panic when I saw a glimmer of light between the two closed doors. I began screaming, trying to get the attention of whoever was out there, and the doors opened slowly to reveal my boss pushing the doors apart with her bare hands. An incredible feat for a woman as petite as her.

She was breathing heavily as she looked at me with an “of course it’s you” type of look and I jumped out of the elevator, almost knocking her over as I thanked her. Apparently, the elevators were undergoing maintenance, and she had received an alert that there was movement in the building, so she had come down to check. The reminder had been up two weeks prior, but I hadn’t noticed. I would’ve have been there the whole night if she hadn’t come.

9. Dad busts down a chimney

I watched my father break open a brick chimney with his bare hands after ripping out a section of the plaster wall to reach my brother, who had fallen into the chimney.

The chimney was being removed from the top down, and my father had barricaded the open holes, but my then 18-month-old brother climbed over one—and down he went. He fell about half a story and got stuck.

He escaped with only some scratches and bruises. Nutella_Zamboni / Reddit

10. Team-building buddy

We did a ropes course for a work team-building event. One of the tasks was to swing on a rope across a muddy puddle. A woman who was probably 350 lbs tried but couldn’t hold her weight and fell butt-first into the puddle.

She was about to cry, and without thinking, I jumped in butt-first too and sat next to her. I splashed both of us and some of the group, which made everyone laugh, so we started laughing too.

After a few minutes, I helped her up, and we went to the clubhouse to hose the muddy water off us and get towels. We sat in the sun while they finished the course.

Days later, I was at my desk when she came into my office, hugged me, started crying, and just said, ’Thank you’ before she left. BackItUpWithLinks / Reddit

11. Bumblebee revival

I noticed a tired bumblebee on my balcony. I went inside to crush a glucose pill and mixed it with water. I put a spoonful of the mix in front of the little guy. Not a minute later, he was happily flying. Altruistic_Focus8**6 / Reddit

12. Rockface

I slid down a rock face literally named ’Dead Man’s Drop’ to save a kid who fell. I was about 13 at the time, and the kid might have been six and had just gotten away from his mom.

It was ridiculously stupid. I easily could have died, but instinct kicked in, and my body just moved. NerdQueenAlice / Reddit

People tend to leave lasting impressions in our lives, no matter how seemingly small the encounter. Check out how 15 strangers did just that.