Your building has caught fire. All the neighbors have already fled outside to escape the flames. All but two. One of them is a child that no one can find. And the other is you, who desperately wants to save his life.

The heat is unbearable. The ground at your feet is almost 100 degrees. But you stay crouched down so you can continue breathing the little oxygen that remains around you. You stagger almost blindly through the smoke and burning rooms. In every direction you see only destruction: rubble, wood and burnt plastic. And yet, you keep going. The only thing that matters is saving that lost child.

And suddenly, you find him lying on the ground, crying and terrified. You gather him up in your arms and run to the nearest exit. The flames rage, and the walls threaten to collapse. If you don’t get out in a few seconds, those seconds will be the last of your life.

But against all odds, you achieve the impossible. You manage to escape the flames and finally emerge onto the street with the child in your arms. You are both safe. And the rest of your neighborhood applauds the greatest heroic act they have ever witnessed.

You just saved a life.

Heroes

Since I was little, I have always loved superhero stories. My mother says I used to prance around the house with He-Man’s power sword hanging on my back, shouting “I have the power!” (What I really had was a huge rash on my back from rubbing against the plastic).

But without a doubt, the admiration I felt for superheroes was not unique. Superhero stories inspire all of us, give us hope, and show us that there is no limit to human bravery when it comes to saving lives.

And even more incredible are the stories of real-world heroes. Here is the hero who pulled a child out of a fire in an apartment in Seville. In Paris, Mamoudou Gassama climbed a building to rescue a child who was about to fall from the fourth floor.

In China, a woman saved an unknown child from being crushed to death, and here another child was luckily caught after falling from a building. And another one. In India, a man jumped onto a train track to save a fallen child. Here we can see a woman in Australia rescuing a koala from a bush fire. Also in Australia, here’s a man who got trapped between the platform and the metro. And the hundreds of people who joined forces to push several tons of metal to help him get free.

And closer to home, we recently witnessed our neighbors in Valencia saving lives again and again and again. The bravery of these heroes and heroines inspires us and reminds us just how tough the human race is.

(If you know of any other inspiring, heroic stories, please leave a comment below).

But why do these stories inspire us so much? On the one hand, it’s clear that we are fascinated by bravery. All of those people unquestioningly put their own lives at risk. But clearly, bravery is not everything. Because if that was the only thing  we admired, we would already have heroes galore in the Cirque du Soleil.

No, there is something else here, apart from bravery: Helping. All of those people did something brave in order to help another human being or animal.

And this reveals the other side of the coin. The thing that makes those people true heroes. At the core of every heroic story there is a victim to save: someone who needs our help.

Victims

As I’ve mentioned in other episodes, the number of children who die every day from preventable causes is the equivalent of a plane crashing with 600 children on board. Sorry, did I say “every day”? I meant “every hour.”

And every year, hundreds of thousands of children lose their sight or die from vitamin A deficiency. Meanwhile, a vitamin supplement for only 2 euros could save their eyesight and their lives.

Half a million children die every year from malaria. But a simple 5-euro mosquito net can protect two children while they sleep for several years.

Approximately one person dies every minute for not having access to things as simple as soap and water. In fact, almost half of the world does not have access to safe sanitation.

As you can see, the majority of victims in the world don’t need to be rescued from burning buildings, or be caught falling from great heights. They mostly need basic things. Things that we take for granted in a country like Spain, like drinking water, soap, or access to a toilet.

So if Superman wanted to save lives in the real world, he wouldn’t need to fly or see through walls. He would probably just spend the day handing out vitamins and mosquito nets.

More than the superpowers of the heroes, in the real world what matters are the needs of the victims. So I think we should stop putting so much emphasis on the bravery of heroes, and instead shine a light on the impact of their help.

Aid

By focusing on their help, we realize that the line between hero and victim can become very blurred, and see that a victim is often also a hidden hero. What about the mother who walks several kilometers every day to collect water for her family? Or the father who sacrifices part of his food to pay for his children’s education? Or the child who takes care of his sick sister?

We also see that there are plenty of people doing heroic things that don’t make the news. People who save lives by doing relatively simple yet effective things. Like delivering vitamin supplements, medicines, or encouraging mothers to vaccinate their children. There are even organizations that deliver money directly to the people who need it most, no strings attached.

And thus we discover that by donating money to these organizations, we are giving them the resources they need to save lives. Furthermore, according to these estimates, the most effective organizations save approximately one human life for every 5,000 euros donated. And if we look at helping other animals, there are other organizations that help hundreds of animals for every euro donated.

In short: your money, donated to these organizations, saves lives.

Purpose

Heroic stories connect us to something bigger than ourselves. Especially the stories of real-world heroes and heroines. The bravery of these people inspires and reminds us that we are all part of the same team, fighting against injustice and suffering.

Time and time again we see that we are willing to risk our lives to save other people and animals. And there are few things that can give us greater satisfaction in life than saving another life.

But it turns out that you don’t need to run into a burning building (unless, of course, you’re a firefighter). And you don’t need to have superpowers either. Personally, I may not have been born on Krypton, but I was born in a country where, by sheer luck, it’s normal to have access to water, soap, and sanitation.

So, today I propose we start the year with a very special goal: To help in the best way possible.

In 2023, I signed a pledge to donate 10% of my income throughout my life to charities that do more with less money. In the description, I’ve left you a link to another video in which I explain how and why I signed that pledge, and where you too can join the other nearly ten thousand pledgers from all over the world. And if 10% seems like a bit too much, you can also sign a trial pledge, in which you decide the percentage you’re comfortable donating

And finally, if you liked this episode, you can give it a “like”, leave a comment, and subscribe to my channel. This way I will have the pleasure of seeing you again in the next episode of AltruFísica.