Not all heroes wear cape is a statement that we are so used to hearing that it has become cliché. This week, the conversation shifts from self to others. Our respondents tell us the bravest things they have ever seen people around them do.
It is such a beauty to know that ordinary people can do extraordinary things in the hour of need. You should read through all of these responses:
Faizat Shuaib
I was in primary three when my dad drove me to school for some reason. Very abnormal, I always rode the bus back then. Anyway, literally the road right behind the school had a house on fire. My dad was a trained firefighter but he hadn’t been a member in years by that point and obviously had no gear or anything with him. Well, he’s still a fire buff so he stopped and had my brother and I walk on the rest of the way to school so he can hang out. I later found out that there was a mom and newborn trapped in the basement of this house so he grabs the neighbors’ axe, broke the door down, and went in completely unprotected – I’m talking shorts, a t-shirt, and sandals – and pulls them both out of there. They were both totally fine, my dad ended up with some pretty major burns – It has been years and I still remember that like it was yesterday.
James Olamidun
A guy riding a bike was on the street when suddenly a mugger stole something from a girl. This dude stopped ran after the guy, caught him and disarmed him (the mugger was using a knife) with a kick. It was in Lagos and it was pretty crazy. Inside my mind, I would like to believe they are now married and with a baby because that guy deserves it.
Akinde
My mom was a single mother of a thankless son in the sixties. She got up every single day and went to two, sometimes three jobs just to feed and house the thankless son. She skipped meals when there wasn’t enough food. She had no help from her family nor her ex-husband, father of the thankless son. She worked until she couldn’t anymore and died of cancer 50 years after having a thankless son. He understands all that now. But there’s no one to thank anymore. That kind of day-to-day bravery in the face of a dark and unknowable future defines courage for him now. It is a hard legacy to live up to. But he tries. Every day.
Kelechi Okoro
When I was 16 I witnessed a 10-year-old kid get his hand caught in a meat grinder, one of those big industrial ones since it happened at a meat processing plant where my mother worked. The kids’ grandfather owned the plant and he’d been “helping” his grandpa feeding meat into it when a piece wrapped around his fingers then pulled his hand in.
Everyone was screaming, the kid’s older brother had held his little brother trying to pull him free while two of the men who worked there looked for, and failed to find, the off switch. I just stood there frozen with fear, not understanding what was happening.
My mom came running in to find out what was going on, took one look, then flew across the room, threw herself up over a table that was between her and the machine, and yanked the power cord out of the wall to kill the power. The paramedics later said her quick thinking was what saved the kid’s hand because if she hadn’t shut the machine down when she did, it’d have crushed the kid’s hand and they’d likely have had to amputate.
Yosola Franklin
My three-year-old son once snatched a hornet out of midair to prevent it from stinging me. Of course, it stung his hand, and through his tears, he said, “But I saved you didn’t I, Mommy?” My heart swells every time I think about it.
Sharon Obingwe
My mom is your stereotypical cheerful, nursery-rhyme singing, happy-go-lucky preschool teacher, but she becomes a total badass if you even think about hurting her kids. At times like that, she’s probably the scariest person I’ve ever seen.
One time a Pitbull went after my baby brother and knocked him to the ground. Without a moment’s hesitation, she slapped the dog in the face, lifted it over her head and body slammed it on the concrete. From then on, the dog ran home every time she went out for a walk.
Next week’s question is,Should vaccination be made mandatory? To be part of the next edition, send your response to 08136601345 via WhatsApp or SMS.