Hawaiian Supermom

Yes, you read right, I used a plural noun to describe this week’s angels.

And I do mean angels.

There are seven that I’m going to mention right now but there are so many others who are just as deserving to be acknowledged.

Before I name them though, I do want to say that I do believe that good things can come out of bad situations. When I wrote yesterday’s post, it helped to reiterate it in my mind.

When we read the news, we see people doing bad things, people getting hurt, humans committing malevolent crimes,and when we are inundated with negativity we start believing that the world is a horrible place but really, it’s not. There is a lot of good out there. There is. Positive things are all around us, even when things are rotten– we just have to adjust our minds so we can see them clearly.

On the daily, we read about these kids who are doing this and that to each other, bullying each other to the point of death and we have the nerve to turn around and say, ‘what’s wrong with kids these days?’ as if these things never happened when we were growing up. We act like bullies never existed, that dislike was never felt towards nerds, towards gays, towards people of a different ethnic background or religion, towards anyone different. We act like suicide never ever happened in our generation, that rape only started happening recently, that our role models were perfect human beings. I am a child of the late 80’s-early 90’s and I can say that we were just as guilty of all of the above. I was violently bullied. I made fun of others who were different. I knew kids who either attempted suicide or actually went through with it. I was date raped and told that it happened because the way that I was dressed provoked it. Madonna and Christina Applegate were our female role models. And I’m sure the same could be said for the generations before us and the ones before them.

We were all dumb, we just didn’t have the technology or the Internet to brag about our stupidity. Before we blame outside influences and gadgets though, before we use the magic eraser words: kids will be kids, we need to look at ourselves. What are we teaching our youth? Education begins at home and in the community.

Why am I talking so much about kids? Because this week’s heroes are ALL kids. And their homes and communities are where they learned to become amazing beacons of light.

The first three heroes are kids who were aboard Sewol; the Korean ferry that tragically went down last month and sunk the hearts of many across the world.

Hero #1: Kwon Hyeok-gyu.

This 6-year-old baby boy (pictured left) saved his 5-year-old sister Kwon Ji-yeon (to the right) by giving her his life preserver. He took his own vest off, strapped it to his little sis and told her that he was going to look for their parents. She was thankfully found alive, but Kwon Hyeok-gyu and their parents did not survive.

 

Hero #2: Jeong Cha-woong

This 17-year-old boy saved many lives aboard Sewol by helping them to evacuate the sinking ship. He also tried to save other kids who were in the water and gave his own life jacket to his friend before he went under.

 

Hero #3: Cho Dae-seob

This survivor is another 17-year-old student aboard Sewol, who is credited for saving many lives. He distributed life jackets and helped put a vest on a lost child.  He also helped female students to escape the submerging ferry first.

 

Hero #4: Martin Cobb

This shy, sweet 8-year-old boy was in the news very recently, as he is credited for protecting his 12-year-old sister from a 16-year-old who was intent on raping her. He did not survive the ordeal but the fact that he tried his best to save his sibling from harm makes him a hero. Period.

Hero #5: Maya DiGiacomo

This 11-year-old girl (pictured left) saved a drowning woman’s life recently. Mother of 3 Kathy McElmurray (right) blacked out while relaxing in the swimming pool above and Maya immediately went to her rescue. The little girl dove to the bottom and pulled her to the side where she was lifted out to safety by bystanders.

Hero #6: Tyler Doohan

Earlier this year, this little guy pulled at the heartstrings of America. This 9-year-old boy saved the lives of 6 of his family members (including a 4-year-old and 6-year-old) from an electrical fire that broke out in their mobile home. To top this off, he made 911 calls to alert the fire department, and sheriff’s deputies. He then ran back into the home to rescue his disabled grandfather. Sadly, both perished and fire crews later said that he appeared to have been trying to lift his grandpa when he collapsed from the heat.

Hero #7: Hector Montoya

9-year-old Hector wanted a PS-4 so bad, he decided to save his own money to buy one. But when he saw a news story about a mom and daughter who died in a fire, he changed his mind and decided to buy smoke detectors instead. 100 detectors to be exact. During an interview, he stated, “it really hurts my heart to see people die in fires” so he, with the help from his local fire department, helps to install these lifesaving devices in  peoples homes. A website has been set up in his honor called: Hector’s Detectors in the hopes to raise money to help others escape from fires.

I wrote this blog today as a reminder that there really are good people in the world, and that there is hope for our future.

I am also dedicating this one to my son, who has been reading so much news that he seems to be emo-ing out a lot lately. See honey, good people do exist and the world– it’s not so bad when you stop focusing on the crud.