We start our days never fully knowing where they're going to take us. Yes, we have timetables and plans, but still meet someone or do something we didn't anticipate. For example, saving someone's life.
Stories of being someone's savior typically tend to stick with people. Even if they do this task daily for work. And so, when a netizen asked Redditors if they had ever saved a life, many of them didn't shy away from sharing their stories. So, let's see how these internet folks became someone's heroes, shall we?
More info: Reddit
#1
I can’t say I definitely saved this girl’s life, but her mum said my actions could have potentially saved her life in the future.
Eleven or twelve years ago I taught a girl in Year 3 (7-8 years old), whom I’ll call Georgie. She was a lovely girl, and her mum would describe her as a bit ditzy, and a bit of an airhead. After a couple of weeks being Georgie’s teacher, I noticed she’d have times of spacing out and being oblivious to events around her. This reminded me of a boy I’d taught a few years before who’d suffered petit mal epileptic seizures, which is characterised by a period of absence and blanking out, rather than jerking and thrashing.
I spoke to Georgie’s mum and asked her to take her to the doctors. She insisted she was just an airhead daydreamer, and it was nothing. I pleaded with her and eventually got her to agree to take Georgie. A few weeks later the mum turns up at my classroom door in tears and with a bunch of flowers for me. Georgie had had tests and scans and been diagnosed with epilepsy. Her mum was full of guilt and what ifs, and said I’ve possibly saved her from a terrible fate, as what if she’d had one of her absence seizures in the swimming pool one day.
Image credits: ellemeno_
#2
Worked at a bank call centre. Elderly customer rang through asking to make a large transfer but sounded very flustered. Felt something felt off so rang police to go around for a welfare check. Turns out she was at gunpoint being forced to send all her money to this guy. Police contacted the bank to arrange call recordings to be sent the day after.
Everyone said I saved her life, but I doubt he would have shot her.
Image credits: Altruistic_Tennis893
#3
Not sure if this counts, but the amount of times I had to physically grab a tourist in London that's about to walk into the traffic as they were looking the opposite way, is in dual digits.
Image credits: Pancovnik
Even though it might be a hard truth, it’s still undeniable that everyone’s life is going to end one day. And it’s best if it does when a person has lived a long and fulfilling life, not before that.
Unfortunately, life is not always generous. And so, quite often people lose their lives way too early. It can be due to an illness, an unfortunate accident, or anything else.
Luckily, every so often, when someone's life is hanging by a thread, there's still a possibility to save them. In fact, there are professions whose aim is to do that. For instance, paramedics. That’s why Bored Panda reached out to one of them - The Salty Paramedic.
#4
Entirely unintentionally, but my answer is "very probably".
At Remembrance Day service with my Scout group (I'm the group leader) and other local Scouts. It's a cold morning obvs, and we're all standing to attention throughout the whole service, which lasts for an hour.
One of the girls from another troop is standing directly in front of me. She suddenly wobbles ever so slightly and then faints, collapsing back into me. Lucky for her, I'm very fat, so she fell into my stomach like it was essentially a great big cushion, and slid harmlessly to the ground.
If I hadn't been there, she would've fallen back and cracked her skull open on the edge of the granite step immediately behind me.
So yeah, I think my *presence* saved her life, but it wasn't through anything I actually DID, just that my enormous stomach cushioned the impact more than a granite step would.
Image credits: Yet_One_More_Idiot
#5
My housemate was spaced-out, barely talking, awful headache, in bed all day, not even needing to get out to go to the toilet. Insisted he was fine, just needed to rest and be left alone. I got more and more worried, but the more I pressed him, the more he outright insisted that nothing was wrong and that if I called an ambulance I'd just make him more ill because it would interrupt the rest he needed. I eventually called an ambulance against his will after his speech got more incomprehensible...
He had severe sepsis. After a week in hospital he did fine, but I was horrified for a long time to think what would have happened had I respected his wishes.
Image credits: horriblebear
#6
I had an instinct my sleeping newborn baby ‘wasn’t quite right’ and insisted on waking him up and taking him immediately to hospital. 20 mins after arrival he went in to full cardiac arrest - turns out he was born with undiagnosed congenital heart disease. The doctors saved him from there, but without that maternal instinct he would never have woken up from his nap at home.
Image credits: Cartshy31
A paramedic's job is to respond to emergency calls and be one of the first healthcare professionals to arrive at an emergency. Our interviewee said that in this job he often encounters a lot of life-saving situations – from cardiac arrests to overdoses.
If saving lives isn’t stressful enough itself, it also might take a toll on a paramedic's mental well-being. As The Salty Paramedic said, “I have a beautiful, loving family, but sometimes it’s hard seeing tragedies happen at work and coming home and being that happy and present father and husband they deserve.” Luckily, he also pointed out that he seems to be handling this pretty well.
Yet, not every paramedic does. For some, the things they see and do can get to them so badly that they develop mental health disorders such as anxiety, depression, or even PTSD.
#7
I answer 999 ambulance calls. I took a call I. January, during the call, the patient stopped breathing. I gave instructions over the phone on how to give CPR and also upgraded the ambulance response. The patient lived and was discharged from the hospital.
Image credits: tazbaron1981
#8
Right I’m going to tell a story that’s utterly surreal to me and no-one I’ve told seems to share the same bewilderment by it…
I was in the Peak District. A man in a 3 piece tweed suit and pocket watch ran past, said hello, and kept on going. Not the usual gear people wear in the Peaks but there you go.
Nearer the end of the day, after enjoying a completely empty hike with no-one else around, we got a bit lost up one of the hills so were along a ridge line still quite high up as the sun started to go down. On this ridge line there’s a bit of a boggy patch that you’re encouraged to avoid. As we redirected around it, we heard someone shouting.
In the distance, where the boggy patch is, someone was waist deep in the bog waving at us. We made our way over and it was the guy from earlier, in the suit. He couldn’t get out.
I had to carefully make my way into it, almost getting stuck myself. But I managed to get a decent footing and pull him out. He smiled, brushed off the excess mud, checked his pocket watch and ran off.
This was a late Autumn day so when that sun went down, it would’ve been freezing. And he would’ve been stuck up there in wet ground overnight, alone.
To this day, I believe I saved that man’s life. Whoever, or whatever, that man was.
Image credits: guzusan
#9
Pulled a kid out of a river who was drowning. Think I was only about 15 at the time.
Saved my mums and grans lives (yay trauma.)
And then I've worked in jobs where I absolutely helped saved someone's life (care, domestic violence service, nhs).
Image credits: RowRow1990
At the same time, the job has qualities that make up for all of it. As the interviewee shared: “The most rewarding aspect of being a paramedic is being able to make a difference every single day I go to work, no matter how small. One shift I might lift an elderly lady off the floor who couldn’t get up on her own and the next might be your classic ‘cat stuck in a tree.’”
But to save a life, a person doesn’t have to be a paramedic. And today’s list proves that. Sometimes all you need is common sense and compassion. For example, helping someone to avoid traffic or calling an ambulance when they need it.
#10
I did rescue breaths/CPR on a kid who stopped breathing. She was incredibly pale and I can still remember the flush as her face turned bright pink when she started breathing. Luckily I'd done a first aid course the week before or I'd have had no idea what to do.
There were plenty of first aiders in the building so someone would have saved her. But I do feel proud that it was me.
Image credits: FalseAsphodel
#11
Stopped some drunk 18 year old kid throwing himself in front of the trams in Nottingham.
Little s**t repaid me by attempting to fight every group of passing lads that went by on a Friday night.
Was below freezing outside and the police took over an hour to come take him off my hands. Can't say I felt any warm glow from the situation I was just pissed off.
Image credits: littlerike
#12
My wife and I used to be carers, as in, we had two people with special needs living at our house. One morning, Christmas Eve as it happened, one of them came down for his breakfast. Now, he wasn't normally clumsy, but seemed a little off that morning. As he sat down, something clicked in my mind, and I asked him to raise both his arms. He couldn't hold his left arm up for more than a second.
Hmm, is he having a stroke?
So I called 999 and explained what was happening while my wife went out to wait for the ambulance. Ambulance came very quickly, like about 5 minutes. They stuck him on oxygen and confirmed it looked like a stroke.
Turned out it was indeed a stroke, but due to the system working as it should, he made a full recovery.
The funny thing was, when I was on the phone, I was calm, explained everything clearly and concisely, all of that. Don't panic, Capt. Mainwaring. But once we got to the hospital and the pressure was off, I called his sister to break the news and completely broke down. I could barely speak.
Image credits: xmastreee
Of course, sometimes some knowledge or skills can also make you a hero in someone’s story. Like knowing CPR. It’s a life-saving technique for when a person's heart can no longer pump blood. So, someone does chest compressions and gives breaths of oxygen until the heartbeat returns. It's a fairly easy and important technique that nearly everyone can (and maybe even should) learn.
Our interviewee agrees with the sentiment that knowing first-aid techniques is crucial: “I have been on a lot of calls where because of a civilian rendering first aid prior to our arrival, the outcome to the patient was great.”
#13
Only indirectly.
Used to manage a charity shop, had some volunteers with various levels of special needs both physical and mental.
One guy, big lad - about 6'5 and probably 35+st, was a great worker at basic tasks. He knew what to do once you showed him and would just chunter away at them until it was complete.
Dropped off by his dad one day, but didn't look happy. Asked him what was up, complained he wasn't feeling well, pushed a little for more specifics, complained his arm and chest were sore. Called his dad back out of the car and got him to take him to A&E.
Blood clot from the lung had broken loose.
Image credits: TheMightyCephas
#14
Patient came into a pharmacy. It was clear he had cellulitis and needed antibiotics.
Patient went to his doctor (next door to us) and doctor told him to buy cream over the counter.
I went next door and demanded that Patient needs to see a GP urgently. GP came out and had an argument with me. After I clearly showed him it was cellulitis he finally reviewed the Patient.
GP was new and wasn't sure what to prescribe. I explained to him that he would need this if he has/hasn't got xyz (not going into the boring clinical stuff).
Patient was treated.
3 weeks later, the patient came back and gave myself and the staff flowers and chocolates for helping him.
We don't know if he would have died but could have easily done or even turned into to sepsis.
I work in the medical field so anything could be a life or death situation ?.
Image credits: Living_Reputation978
#15
Saved a mate from drowning in Thailand once , nearly drowned myself doing it so would leave it to the lifeguards in the future.
Image credits: Legitimate-Bath1798
What we can take away from this list is that sometimes one little thing you do can make you a hero. Saving someone’s life is a significant event not only for the one who is saved, but for the one who does the saving too. After all, life is precious and it’s wonderful when it doesn’t end too early, right?
Have you ever saved a life? Share with us! And don’t forget to upvote the stories you liked best and check out The Salty Paramedic's TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram.
#16
Multiple times but one sticks out for me
I work in ICU and a patient arrived on the unit awake but promptly arrested. I started CPR, we got them back but they were incredibly unstable. They were ventilated and sedated, on multiple cardiac medications and electrolytes. A week later I was back on shift and I stopped by their bed-space and it had a different person in it. Assumed they didn’t make it but spotted them in high dependency. They were sitting there happily having a cup of tea. They remembered me from just before they arrested when I apparently made them feel safe when they were scared. They thanked me for saving their life. Tears all round. Once of the proudest moments of my life.
Image credits: ButtercupBento
#17
I was at a train station, and station staff saved a little girl's life. They called for help and as a nurse I ran over. I emailed the station singing their praises, but the reply was pretty dismissive and didn't seem to realise that the station staff had genuinely administered LIFE SAVING first aid. I think in their reply they refered to it as 'potentially life saving actions' which I felt really downplayed what the station staff did that day.
(It was a toddler choking who had gone a bit grey/blue. Station staff administered back slaps and she regained colour. But I honestly thought I was going to have to do CPR on the child initially).
Image credits: Lemonade_dog
#18
On my lunch break at work, I found a homeless guy in an office doorway. Young, looked unconscious. I checked on him and he was barely conscious. Complained of stomach pain and said he hadn't had d***s or alcohol. People were just walking by. Called an ambulance and waited two hours for it to come.
Another guy stopped and waited with me. He was a retired social worker. We waited till the ambulance came and the older guy gave details as he wasn't working and I was.
Met the old guy randomly a few weeks later. Said the guy would have died without treatment. He was newly homeless from another area. Only in his 20s. The shelters couldn't take him in. He had some kind of stomach infection. He was recovering last I heard. I hope he found a place to stay. Not much older than my sons. Glad I did my part.
Image credits: Mandala1069
#19
I saved a friends life a few years ago. Kind of, not sure how much credit I deserve but results based science I guess?
Was drinking with a friend at my house. He fell asleep on the sofa after a decent but not over the top amount of beers. About half an hour later he got up and quickly ran to the toilet. I heard a loud bang, then about 30 seconds later a louder crash. I decided to go check on him just in case and found him laying on his back choking on his own vomit.
I turned him on his side and as I did this is clenched his mouth shut. I couldn't clear the vomit anymore and he carried on choking. I tried all sorts to unclench his jaw, tried prying at his teeth with my hands and he bit me, I slapped him, kicked him, smacked his back, got behind and tried the Heimlich, nothing worked. He was going pale and lips were blue. Eventually I tried to pick him up and dropped him.
When I dropped him he opened his mouth. I stuck my hand in it and cleared the vomit from his throat. He opened his eyes slowly and rejoined the room. He told me he really needed a p**s, couldn't undo his button up fly and fell over. Then pissed himself, then he tried to stand up and slipped on his p**s and smashed his head on the sink knocking himself out.
I don't know if he would've woken up on his own or if I deserve the credit, but it worked.
Image credits: ALIJEALSF
#20
When I was 17 me and my mate (18) went to Asda to get a carry out. Once the drink had been bought we walked round the back of the shop to have a sneaky drink before heading to wherever we were going, when we noticed something in the bushes.
There was a guy about 10 years older than us, lying in the bushes, starting to go blue in the face. We dragged him onto the grass and got him into a recovery position, then I sprinted back round to the shop to get a first aider and someone to call the ambulance. While I was away my mate found the guys [final] notes addressed to his family. He’d been diagnosed with cancer and tried to OD.
Ambulance took him away and the Asda manager promised us a reward.
Then when it came to light that I shouldn’t have been buying bevvy in the shop as I was underage, they reneged on the reward. So now I shop at Aldi.
Image credits: I__am__Wilson
#21
Many years ago, before I did any First Aid training, I was at my local Jobcentre to sign on and there was a lady looking very unwell. JC staff were really uninterested. I got all righteous (as I tended to do at that age) and demanded they put her in a side room and find a First Aider. After what seemed like ages some (still uninterested) staff member came along and said there were no First Aiders on the premises and was about to walk away, and I yelled at them to phone a bloody ambulance. They did, ambo turned up and whisked the woman off.
About 3 or 4 months later the woman came knocking at the door with a huge bouquet and an equally huge box of chocolates, thanking me profusely for saving her life. She'd had a heart attack and was really unwell for a while in hospital, and was told that she would have died if I'd not got the ambo. Turned out she found out who I was because her daughter and I went to the same school. Knew her daughter but hadn't recognised her on the day because she looked so ill (recognised her when she came to the door, though).
Image credits: Creepy_Radio_3084
#22
Yes I believe so.
I was hanging out outside a bar, smoking with a few buddies.
Over the road I spotted some guys I knew so I sauntered over to say hi. One of the guys was sitting on a wall that was about 4 feet high and was clearly drunk as s**t. He put his arms up to give me a hug when he saw me coming over and sort of lost his balance, starting to tip backwards.
I made the last two steps towards him as quickly as I could and grabbed his wrists to stop him falling back. As I reached him, I saw that the wall he was sitting on was sort of adjacent to some steps down to a basement entrance, the drop behind the wall was about 15 feet on to solid concrete. I’m not sure if he definitely would’ve died if he fell but it certainly was on the cards.
I had no idea about the drop behind him when I went to grab him, I assumed the drop was only the height of the wall but I didn’t want him to hurt himself. Lucky that I made the effort as on a different day I might’ve thought it’d be funny to watch him topple backwards.
Image credits: Charming_Rub_5275
#23
Out surfing with school mates so the sea is quite rough. We're all strong swimmers and have our boards, but we still keep an eye on each other. The tide is pretty high at that point and with the big waves, a person could walk out reasonably far and then suddenly struggle to stand when a series of waves hits.
We spotted some young lads, similar age to us, messing around near the breakpoints where the seafloor drops quite sharply and we noticed that their shouts were turning into panic. When it became apparent they were struggling to stay above water, we swam over with our boards and told them to hold on. We got them back to the beach and checked they were OK.
Lots of local kids could barely swim even though we lived right by the sea and they just treated it as a big splash pool. Too many people have no respect for the sea and how dangerous open water swimming can be. Even strong swimmers can be swept out or become disoriented. Be smart and be safe.
Image credits: MDKrouzer
#24
Yes! It was a really hot day in summer last year and I was on the bus to Leeds. Bus driver was just sat for ages at these lights and I’m thinking eh what, why’s the bus not moving.
I had my earphones in and I was falling asleep, wanted to go home. I looked over the seats and saw this poor woman on the floor, unconscious. I took my earphones off and I could hear the driver on the phone to 999. He didn’t know where we were as it was a Wakefield bus, he was from Wakefield.
I took the phone, told the woman where we were, and then she told me to do chest compressions etc. so I did. She then started coughing and I rolled her over onto her side, and by that time the ambulance was there. I went into a panic because it was a bit much but I just did what I had to do and I was there to make sure she was alive.
I was so proud of myself man. I hope she’s okay.
Image credits: leclercwitch
#25
I was 16, it was a hot summers day. I was on my way to meet my mate at the park to get stoned, i was walking up this huge k***er of a hill. There was a young man led on the floor. Completely lifeless. Luckily i did first aid training for lifeguarding. The guy wasn’t breathing and I couldn’t feel/hear a pulse. I performed cpr and had 999 on speaker phone. Luckily more people came to help and i was in control of the situation directing people. He came back around after the ambulance crew took over and used a defibrillator on him, luckily they were very quick.
Image credits: Possiblyasmoker
#26
I work in healthcare, so do stuff to keep people alive regularly - but I actually saved my partners’ life on holiday a few years ago.
He choked, horrendously, on some bacon one morning during breakfast, went red and made awful noises, and I had do the Heimlich manoeuvre and hit his back until it came out. Shouting “oh my god oh my god!!!” repeatedly throughout as I was in utter panic mode.
It was absolutely terrifying, I burst into tears when the bacon came out, and my partner, who just *nearly* died, had to comfort *me*, because I was in absolute bits. I was an absolute mess but I’m obviously glad I saved his life!
Image credits: SQ_12
#27
20+ years ago at about midnight on a Saturday night, we were just getting ready to go to bed and started hearing the fire alarm from next door - a terraced house. We’d heard the neighbour come home, so I went to knock with no reply.
Called the fire brigade out - they broke down the door to investigate and found him fast out on the settee and the kitchen on fire!
He’d come in after a skinfull and decided to cook a stew. Sat down and passed out. If we hadn’t called the fire brigade, it’s was likely he’d have died and the fire would have spread into the surrounding houses.
#28
Not saved a life, but spotted something that would have caused problems.
I saw a mole on the back of my mums leg that didn’t look right - multicoloured and had an uneven edge to it. So I pointed it out and told her she should have it looked at by a doctor. Doctor checked it and agreed that it was changing into something concerning so she was booked in to have it removed. She ended up having a sizeable chunk taken out of her leg, histology came back that it was a melanoma which is a type of skin cancer.
So yeah, my mum was lucky that it was caught really early and hadn’t spread so after minor surgery she was OK.
Image credits: Lunar_Raccoon
#29
Yes, but the thrill wears off a bit when you know it’s another 85+ year old who just about survived CPR and will spend the last months of their life fighting intubation.
Image credits: ZestycloseShelter107
#30
Potentially? Was a passenger in a car and the vehicle in front took a corner recklessly to show off, clpped a bank and fully flipped.
This was on a dark country road in dead of winter so if I hadn't got the guys out a very high change someone else coming along the road would have ploughed into them.
The car was spread across both lanes and while we waited on emergency services I ended up having to direct traffic in both directions with a minions torch!
Image credits: Snell84
#31
Yes, my mum. She collapsed down the stairs a few months back and I had to CPR her until the ambulances came. I lived alone with her so it was a solo operation while I had the phone on speaker. Longest 10 minutes of my life.
Image credits: D3mentedG0Ose
#32
We were working on a canal when we heard a splash, followed by frantic splashing.
We went to investigate and a bloke had fallen in the lock. The water was down so there was no way to climb out. It was also freezing. We opened the gates and let him out then dragged him out of the water.
Maybe he could have held on to the gates until someone else came, but it was freezing and he was panicking to the point where he was barely keeping his head above water.
Funnily enough, I had a project a few years later and part of it was cutting ladders into the side of existing locks so that you could get out if you fell in.
