What's the Most Heroic Thing You've Ever Done?

Okay, hypothetical scenario: a woman is trapped between a train and the platform. What do you do? Ignore her/Instagram her/feign helping her out only to watch as the train pulls away and rips her in two? Or, like a bunch of people in Tokyo, roll up your sleeves, move the 32-tonne train and free the woman?

I wanted to see if any of the people in my local vicinity would take the second option, so I went to ask some of them a question: what's the most heroic thing you've ever done?

Mick, 29, works at a call centre: I was in Glasgow and these two wee guys got jumped by a bunch of other guys and I went and kicked them off.

So you broke up a fight, basically?
Yeah.

Were you outnumbered?
Yeah, four to one.

Was it a rough fight?
Well, I think they were looking for their money or some shit. One guy got beat up quite badly. It broke up pretty quickly. There was a bit of shouting and shoving.

So the other guys didn’t have any heart?
You could say that.

Amelia, 23, intern: It’s really quite sappy.

That’s OK.
I would just say helping a friend out of a bad situation.

Is that as specific as you’re going to get?
How specific do you want me to get?

I don’t know – was your friend drowning in the Thames when you helped them out of this bad situation?
No, nothing like that.

The mind boggles at the possibilities.

Teresa, 34, student: I helped my friend save a guy who was bleeding in the street, near Bond Street. I called the ambulance and waited for it with him.

What was wrong with him?
I don’t know what happened to him. There was blood everywhere and he was convulsing. He was passed out.

Nice. That's a lot more admirable than just gawking and Instagramming photos of a bleeding man in public.
Yeah. He seemed alright when the ambulance showed.

Good. Thanks, Teresa.

Jennifer, 27, actress: I jumped into the middle of a dog-fight to save my dog.

What kind of dog did you have?
A cocker spaniel named Lady.

And what kind of dog what it fighting?
Three huskies. They were my uncle’s.

How did your dog fare?
My dog got bit in the neck. I got bit on my hand.

So you pulled her from the jaws of death?
I don’t know if it was that dramatic, but yeah.

Christer, 35, artist and curator: Well, there was this guy who was super drunk near Euston Station. And there were some people who were trying to prevent him from going into the road because he would have killed himself. But these people who were helping him were quite posh. They left and told him to stay put, and I saw that wasn’t going to happen.

So you stayed with him?
Yeah, because I saw he wasn’t going to stay off the road. He was hanging and drooling on me for like half an hour before an ambulance was called.

So he was a stranger and you stopped him from getting run over?
Yeah.

Congratulations, you’re a hero.

Previously – Should David Cameron Restrict Online Pornography?