Alastair Cass was having a miserable afternoon watching football. His beloved Arsenal were losing 3–0 to Brighton, and he’d finally had enough. The 40-year-old switched off the television and walked outside toward one of the barns on his property in Devon, England. As he crossed the yard, he heard a strange noise coming from somewhere … Read more
Every time Kate Fink arrived at Roswell Park Cancer Center in Buffalo, New York, there was a good chance she’d run into a man named Jon Avery. He worked outside the main entrance, greeting patients and taking their cars while they went inside for treatment. Kate was battling breast cancer, and those hospital visits had … Read more
Michael Brandon Hill walked into Ronald E. McNair Discovery Learning Academy carrying an assault-style rifle and 498 rounds of ammunition. Within minutes, shots had been fired, police were outside, and hundreds of children were locked down inside the elementary school. In the front office sat Antoinette Tuff, the school bookkeeper, with no weapon, no police training and no hostage-negotiation experience.
Catherine Mulvale was visiting Kampala, Uganda, in 2006 when a little boy approached her. He was 12 years old, wearing a blue shirt, and he had a question that would change the direction of her life. “Will you save my life?” he asked. Mulvale had come from Canada, where many of the opportunities this boy … Read more
When a student brought a loaded shotgun into an Oregon high school, football coach Keanon Lowe found himself facing a situation no teacher ever wants to encounter. He moved toward the student, took the weapon away and handed it to another staff member. Then, instead of backing away, he turned toward the young man and … Read more
Sanduk Ruit grew up in a remote Himalayan village in eastern Nepal, where reaching the nearest school meant walking for nearly a week. Getting medical treatment was even more difficult. When he was 17, his older sister died of tuberculosis. It was a devastating loss, especially because the disease could be treated if someone received … Read more
On January 14, 2008, 20-year-old Jonny Benjamin was standing on Waterloo Bridge in London, going through one of the worst moments of his life. He had recently been diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder, and he was struggling to see any kind of future for himself. Hundreds of people were making their way across the bridge that … Read more
In May 2025, Luke Melling stood in a park in Preston, England, waiting to meet a man who had helped save his life. The man was Alastair Hawken, a father of three from Lincolnshire. They had never met in person, but Luke had been carrying Alastair’s donated stem cells inside his body for three years. … Read more
A woman knocked on Jon Potter’s car window while he was filling up at a gas station in Pittsburgh. She needed a ride to a shelter for women escaping abuse, or enough money to take the bus. Jon said no. Almost immediately, he wished he hadn’t. He got out of his car and tried to … Read more
Faygo had a favorite spot at his home in Lake Barcroft, Virginia: the corner of the front lawn. The 12-year-old goldendoodle loved watching people go past, especially if someone stopped to scratch his ears. He had plenty of affection inside the house, but he was always ready for another visitor. Then his owner, Michelle Martin, … Read more