Despite a news cycle that often highlights negativity, 2025 delivered multiple reminders that many people instinctively run toward danger to save others. From Bondi Beach to central Texas, Paris to New York, ordinary people acted on impulse and training to rescue strangers and loved ones. These accounts show that extreme altruism remains a vital part of the human story and invite each of us to consider how we’d respond in a crisis.
The 2025 Stories That Prove People Still Run Toward Danger — Ordinary Courage, Extraordinary Consequences
A man passes a mural by Jarrod Grech of Ahmed al Ahmed, the hero who was filmed tackling and disarming one of the attackers in the Bondi Beach mass shooting, in a Melbourne laneway on December 22, 2025. | William West/AFP via Getty Images
One of the most striking books about modern altruism is Larissa MacFarquhar’s Strangers Drowning, which profiles people whose duty to others goes far beyond what most of us expect. Her subjects surrender money they might reasonably save, give time others consider essential, and sometimes risk their own safety. The book asks a clear question: why do some treat helping as a casual obligation while others make it a defining, sometimes life‑threatening commitment?
In a news environment that often emphasizes the worst of human behavior, another story quietly recurs at the margins: people who instinctively run toward danger. They don’t rehearse the moment, weigh the odds or wait to be told they’re the “right” person. When someone’s life is suddenly at risk, they move — often on instinct, sometimes at great personal cost.
Below are a handful of such stories from 2025. Most involve ordinary people thrust into extraordinary circumstances. Each example underscores a different facet of spontaneous, life‑saving altruism — and invites the uncomfortable question: would you act the same way in that instant?
Bondi Beach, Australia — Ahmed al Ahmed
On December 14 at the “Chanukah by the Sea” event on Bondi Beach, gunmen opened fire. Video shows Ahmed al Ahmed duck behind a parked car, then sprint toward a shooter, wrestle the gun away and hold the attacker at gunpoint without firing. Ahmed was shot and underwent a complex operation for nerve damage; another lengthy surgery is expected. New South Wales Premier Chris Minns called him “a genuine hero,” saying he had “no doubt” Ahmed’s bravery saved many lives. From his hospital bed, Ahmed — who arrived in Australia from Syria in 2006 — said simply that he acted “from the heart.”
Central Texas — Scott Ruskan and the Camp Mystic Evacuations
In early July, Coast Guard rescue swimmer Scott Ruskan was on his first official mission when catastrophic flooding struck central Texas. Severe weather stretched what is normally a one‑hour flight into seven or eight hours — “some of the worst flying we’ve ever dealt with,” he said. On the ground he found himself the only first responder among roughly 200 frightened children and staff at Camp Mystic. Tasked with triage and coordinating helicopter evacuations, Ruskan helped evacuate 165 people. He rejected the hero label, saying, “I just happened to be on the duty crew.”
Pembroke Pines, Florida — Neighbors Rescue Passengers From Burning Plane
In July, a small plane crashed into a tree in a Pembroke Pines neighborhood and the wreckage burst into flames. Neighbors — including Giovanna Hanley and her family — ran toward the burning fuselage. One person brought an ax, another a fire extinguisher; hoses were used while Hanley’s father‑in‑law broke a window to create an escape path. All four passengers were rescued and hospitalized. The mayor later called the neighbors’ actions “nothing short of heroic.”
Paris, France — Fousseynou Cissé and the Ledge Rescue
Also in July, toxic smoke trapped families in a top‑floor apartment in northern Paris. Fousseynou Cissé climbed through a window and balanced on a narrow ledge connecting two apartments — roughly 65 feet above the ground — to help evacuate children and infants. Mothers handed children through a window; Cissé passed them into the adjacent apartment and then helped the mothers across. He said simply, “It wasn’t calculated; it was instinct: ‘We’ve got to go.’” Paris police chief Laurent Nuñez announced he would award Cissé a medal “in recognition of his courage and dedication,” calling it an example of “republican courage.”
Queensboro Plaza, New York — Ray McKie’s Reflex Rescue
On August 20, Metropolitan Transit Authority conductor Ray McKie heard screams at Queensboro Plaza and saw a train approaching while a person lay on the tracks. In heavy rain that made the platform slippery, he signaled the incoming train to stop, jumped down, lifted an unconscious 14‑year‑old who had fainted and hit his head, and helped another passenger off the tracks. He stayed with the injured teen until emergency responders arrived; the young person recovered. McKie described his actions as pure reflex: “It all happened very fast, and I just went on instinct.”
These incidents are not cinematic set pieces but snapshots of ordinary people making split‑second choices. Their actions don’t erase the world’s cruelties, but they do remind us that extreme altruism remains a powerful—and persistent—part of the human story.
As 2025 closes, these stories offer more than admiration; they offer a practical reminder. We may never know how we would respond in a crisis until we face one, but we can choose every day to act kindly, to prepare, and to help where we can. That intention is one worth carrying into the new year.
