William Kyle Carpenter: A True Hero

When someone says the word hero, what is the first things that pops into your head? To many, a man or woman clad in colourful cloth complete with a long flowing cape and good morals. A superhero. A work of fiction. A way to satisfy ourselves with who we are and who we prefer or aspire to be. They are the ideal person, willing to sacrifice it all for a greater good. However, superheroes aren’t real, merely a work of fiction. But there is such thing as a real life hero although they seem rare. These heroes haven’t leapt from the pages of storybooks, no, they were all born and shaped just like you and me.

A hero is defined by Dictionary.com as:

1: A person noted for courageous acts or nobility of character

and

2: A person who, in opinion of

There are three main traits of heroism:

It is voluntary.

It is done in service of others in need.

It involves a risk, physical or social, without the expectation of external gain.

A hero is able to function through fear. They are able to recognise danger but accept it and put others before themselves, knowing what risks they take.

William Kyle Carpenter is the youngest living soldier to receive the Medal of Honour. In the November of 2010, he shielded Lance Corporal Nicholas Eufrazio from a grenade and was severely wounded in the process. Both survived. He knew of the danger and the price and price he could’ve paid.

Heroes outlook, beliefs and experiences have prepared them for the unique situations that they were thrown into and face challenges. If a hero suffers a loss or defeat, they may draw strength from it instead of just viewing it as a setback, TIME

Xiong Tien became pinned beneath a loading truck while riding his motorcycle after the truck swerved to avoid him but ended up tipping over and pinning him underneath instead. A group of strangers managed to move the truck and get Tien to a hospital. A spokesperson for the hospital is told to have said that Tien was lucky he hadn’t been crushed to death.

As Arthur Ash once described Heroism, "True heroism is remarkably sober, very undramatic. It is not the urge to surpass all others at whatever cost, but the urge to serve others at whatever cost."

A man, Cameron Hollopeter, suffered a seizure in a subway station and fell onto the subway tracks. Around 75 people were around to watch the event but only one out of them would decide to do something. Wesley Autrey leapt down onto the tracks, hoping that he would have enough time to drag the other man out of the way but time was against them. Autrey pinned the man down in a laying position between the tracks, the train passing over them. “I don 't feel like I did something spectacular; I just saw someone who needed help,” he said, “I did what I felt was right.”

As Matt Langdon once said, “The opposite of a hero isn 't a villain – it 's a