1. a man or woman of distinguished courage or ability, admired for his/her brave deeds and noble qualities.

2. a person who, in the opinion of others, has heroic qualities or has performed a heroic act and is regarded as a model or ideal.

It finally hit me when I was driving home tonight from an especially long and hard days work. Ive been feeling especially guilty, and depressed about a great many things, but soon realized I shouldnt be.

As quoted by "yankee doodle"

"What Makes A Hero?

by yankee doodle, Aug 4, 2007
A hero is an everyday person that can change the world. Usually people think of heroes as people who fight crime in movies or comic books, but those people don't exist in the real world.

In our world, anybody can be a hero like police officers, firefighters, doctors, or people you walk by on the streets.

A hero is not someone that hurts another person or does bad things, but they help people. A hero doesn't always fight crime or always have an opposition. They don't even have to work with people; they could be designing a product that helps many people.

An example of a hero that doesn't have an opposition would be helping someone else. Someone could be struggling with their schoolwork. Another person can notice that and help them understand the work. That person could be called a hero because another person is having an easier time with their work.

An example of a hero that doesn't necessarily work with people could be people who invent things. The person that invented the wheelchair is a hero because he has helped millions of people in the world. Without the wheelchair people who cannot walk would not be able to move around as easily. This person is a hero to people all around the world.

A hero is an everyday person who can change the world for the better. It could be simple like helping one person out or by helping millions."

I dont usually quote others like this, but I didnt want to rely on just my own personal opinion on the matter. It is important for me to feel justified in what I am going to say.

Human beings can be especially selfish when we choose to be. Taking more then was portioned for us at the dinner table. Cutting in line at the super market. Swerving in and out of all the other cars in traffic to get to the already red light first.

I could go on.

But we are also capable of some pretty great things. Selfless, and generous acts. But what is a generous act? A selfless one?

You hold a door for an old woman as she enters a diner. Is it courtesy? Chivalry? Good manners....

You see a car stuck on the side of the road in the pouring rain. Hazard lights on, and the windows are fogged up. Grandma, and grandpa have a flat tire on their way home. How many of us stop. How many would offer to change the tire, or simply sip our coffee and keep driving, thinking a police officer will see them any minute. Someone else who isnt as busy as I am will see them for sure. I just cant miss my TV show/movie/videogame/etc. Very thoughtful of you.

But you were thinking about how inconvenient it would be for you to get wet. Your coffee would get cold. Your hands dirty. I just couldnt get my new shoes dirty, I just bought them, yes.....someone else will be along shortly. You pass by without as much as another glance, and they watch your taillights drift off into the falling rain.

Maybe the windows were fogged because they have been sitting there for over an hour. Maybe the driver had a heart attack and his poor wife is so consumed with fear, and grief she is just trying to tell her husband who is barely able to speak to hold on, someone will surely see us here. His heart seizing up as he tried himself to change the tire, unsuccessfully. Yes, any minute now.

How many of us take the time to do a favor for a stranger, if it doesnt involve some kind of reward. Whats in it for me....

self⋅less: [self-lis]

-having little or no concern for oneself, esp. with regard to fame, position, money, etc.; unselfish.

For the past couple of years Ive been the recipient of a specialized medical treatment for my genetic lung disease. For those who dont know already, it has a name.

Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency.

There is only one treatment for Alphas with lung disease. A protein derived from DONATED human blood.

This protein cannot be synthesized artificially. It is natures own. So somewhere down the line, someone, a whole lot of someones saw fit to walk into a blood collection clinic and suffer the needle. All for my benefit. Most blood collection is voluntary, and without compensation. SO why do it at all? Its inconvenient. You must get stuck with a large needle, sit in a chair, and lose some part of yourself your body must replace. For cookies and juice?

There is no other option for me. Without strangers giving of themselves, for no other reason then to believe they have made a difference. There is no words I can come up with which can express the gratitude I have for them doing so.

This treatment will never cure me. It only prolongs the inevitable fate which all Alphas will face. Lung failure. Suffocating. Laying in a bed hooked up to machines. No amount of inhalation will make me any stronger, less tired, less defeated. Prolonged drowning.

Turn your drivers license over.

See the little box which asks you to check here, to donate your organs. Must be pretty important if they put it on every single license and ID card in the country. Wonder why.

Life insurance. We buy it in the unlikely event some tragedy occurs and we are killed, or die by some other unforeseen manner which leaves our loved ones in a precarious position of doubt.

That little check box, is life insurance. But not for your loved ones. You will never meet the person it was meant to help. You will never be compensated for checking that little box on the back of your ID. No one will come to you, shake your hand and say thank you. You really saved me back there. They will have no face, no name, no memory of you, or you them.

Whats in it for me?

A 21 yr old man is killed while running his favorite route through the neighborhood by a drunk driver. His parents grief stricken try and cope with the loss of their beautiful son. He is pronounced dead at the scene. He had chosen to check that little box on his ID card. He felt it was important. Any salvageable organs are quickly identified and rushed off to hospitals all over the country. Helicopter. Airplane. Nothing is too much when it comes to the value of the gifts harvested from the young man killed in his prime.

A phone call is made. You are rushed to the hospital where preparations are already being made. Barely alive, you are whisked away to the operating room.

You survive. Checking your hands, fingers, eyesight, breathing. You are sore, but alive. Your family is there, happy to see you doing well. One family wont be so fortunate.

Is it heroic to check a little box? Is it selfless, to promise a stranger you will never meet the gift of life? Whats in it for you? I dont know. But I do know what it means to me if you do....

My name is Patrick. Am I worth saving? I hope you think so. Because I will never forget you if you do. You will be my hero.