Kindness comes in all shapes and sizes. It could come from someone saying something that brings you happiness. Or someone giving you the bit of money you desperately needed for all your groceries. But sometimes it’s so much bigger. Here are 11 stories where acts of kindness saved lives.
1.
I needed a bone marrow transplant urgently. A stranger named Mia was my only match and saved my life. After 2 years, we finally met. I was crying, thanking her. She said coldly: “Stop crying, you don’t owe me anything!”
I went numb when she pulled out a photo of a young woman who looked exactly like her. “This is my sister Sarah. She was 28 when she was diagnosed with the same blood disorder you had. We searched for a donor for 18 months and nobody matched. She died three weeks before her wedding.”
Mia’s voice cracked. “When the registry called saying I matched you, I almost said no. I was so angry that I could save a stranger but couldn’t save my own sister. But then they told me you were 28 too, the same age Sarah was. I went through with the donation because I couldn’t let another family lose someone when I had the power to stop it.”
She paused for a moment, staring at the photo like it was burning her hands.
“After the surgery,” she added quietly, “I cried for the first time in a year. Not because of you… but because for a moment, it felt like I did something I couldn’t do for her.”
2.
I left my previous job for better pay. My boss, who was like a father to me, smiled and said: “I’m proud of you.” I barely looked back. Years passed and I didn’t reach out.
Last week I found out he was in hospital with kidney failure. I rushed over and when I got there his wife told me that his son, who was the only match they had found, refused to donate. And if he couldn’t get a transplant, he’d only have days.
I didn’t think twice. I got tested and I was a match. I donated my kidney to him and there hasn’t been a day in my life where I regretted that decision.
But what I didn’t expect was the moment he woke up after surgery… he squeezed my hand and whispered, “I always knew you’d come back when it mattered most.”
3.
When I was like 7, my family moved to suburben area. My mum was alone with the 4 of us. The first day, after we moved everything in and our relatives helped with unpacking, I was told to go out and have fun, because a 7-year-old is a bit useless when it comes to decorating.
After a couple of minutes, I discovered a pond or at least I thought it was one (it was actually a rainwater reservoir with black plastic around it). I went near it and saw some tadpoles inside the water and tried to catch them.
Well, I fell in and almost drowned because wet plastic is not very nice to grip on. I don’t know how long I struggled, but my brother discovered me and screamed for help and a retired firemen jumped in to help me.
For a moment, I remember sinking under and thinking I wouldn’t come back up—until I felt hands breaking through the surface and pulling me into light and air again.
4.
Happened to me last year, I was too glued to my phone texting my BF as I was crossing the street, I didn’t realize there was a truck coming. This guy suddenly pulled me by the arm to the curb just a few inches before getting hit. Earned a few bruises cuz of the force but it’s nothing compared to one simple act that if he hadn’t done it, could have possibly ended my life right.
The driver reportedly never even had time to honk. It all happened in a split second I never saw coming.
5.
My father suffered a huge stroke in 2003 and needed a blood transfusion. He ended up getting 6 units of red cells and 4 of platelets. The 10 people who gave up their time and blood absolutely saved his life.
We later learned one donor had driven over two hours in the middle of the night after hearing there was an emergency shortage. My father is still alive today because strangers refused to let his story end there.
6.
I was walking through town, barely paying attention to anything when I noticed the guy in front of me didn’t notice that the bars for the train crossing were down. We were on the sidewalk and there wasn’t any bar across the sidewalk so he just kept walking.
I grabbed his collar and yanked backwards just as the train went by. At first he was angry that I did that but then he noticed what just went by.
He turned pale instantly, stepping back in silence as the wind from the passing train hit us like a warning we barely escaped.
7.
I was out running on a hot day. Ended up collapsing in a man’s yard from heat exhaustion. He found me on his lunch break, carried me inside, and called 911. Rather anticlimactic, but it probably would’ve progressed to me dying of heat stroke without him luckily coming home for lunch.
When I woke up hours later, he was still sitting nearby with a cold towel and a half-finished glass of water, refusing to leave until he knew I was truly okay.
8.
I was at a mountain top called Pali Lookout on the island of Oahu. I stupidly leaned far forward to look at the bottom of a valley and my hands slipped on some wet cement. As soon as I fell forward I felt hands grab my waist and pull me backward. My heart was racing and I turned around to see a young teenage girl standing there.
I kept thanking her over and over and asked if I could talk to her parents. She didn’t answer me and bowed and ran off to join the rest of the Japanese tour group that was there. I yelled out “Arigatou! Arigatou! Arigatou!” and she turned and bowed again, so I did as well. I really wish I could have thanked her better and let her parents know what she did.
Even now, I still wonder if she realized she had saved my life in a moment she barely even hesitated.
9.
I was standing on the outer edge of a mosh pit at a concert for POD in 2002. I almost slipped into to mosh and a stranger grabbed my arm as I was going down. I definitely believed he saved me from getting seriously hurt.
For a second, I remember seeing nothing but moving bodies and chaos before that grip yanked me back into safety like I was never meant to fall in the first place.
10.
I was on holiday on a small yacht in France, when a small boy maybe 4 fell from the quay into the water. I ran down the dock and into a row of small rowing boats to drag him in after his brave dad dived in but had nowhere to put him.
The child wasn’t breathing properly at first, and panic spread fast—until we managed to clear his airway just in time for him to cough and cry again.
11.
I was once walking on a sidewalk of a busy road when I saw a small child running towards it from a nearby park. I stopped him just before he could jump in front of a truck. His mom didn’t even notice he was gone and I’m probably the only person who knows how close he was to dying that day.
The truck never slowed in time—but that one second of pulling him back changed everything that would have followed.
