Your personal Unsung Hero

[Bindu1000]

http://i.imgur.com/7UjvR.jpg


Unsung Heros

Since the Halloween story competition was such a resounding success, and judging on the amazing stories submitted, we realised we have a heap of literary genius' on OS. So thought we would try something on similar lines, but this time lets make it something nice and make it a tribute instead.

I read somewhere about a guy who when he was laid off from Microsoft took it on himself to collect and distribute second hand books in remote areas of poor third world countries, or the guy who made it his calling to build bridges in rural villages and thereby improving the lives of thousands. From the simple to the grand - they are people whose names and stories a lot of us have never heard of - but in their lifetime have touched millions.

So this thread is for us to write about our own hero - someone you know in your own village or town, whose unselfish acts of kindness remind us of what we are supposed to do or maybe someone who through one single act of kindness at a time when we thought our world had come to an end, gave us the strength and courage to go on. I am sure almost all of us have been helped along by someone's love, at least once in our life.

So here is where you tell the world the story about your own personal Unsung Hero!!


The winner will be awarded ... A Medal!!! (Are we surprised here?)

So pull out those quills and tell us your story ...Hyakku!!

Gambatte!!!


All Hail OS (and our Hero's)

[Omikaru]

Unfortunately, he passed away, but I'll tell you about him.

A man I worked with, was with the Army Reserves for decades until he was honorably discharged. He worked with me and the company for a good solid 20 years (I've only worked with him for 5 years). In between his dedication to his wife and family, he's helped very poor people who've worked *even me.* there with what they need, like new clothes, beds, food, you name it, he helped get it, and had done that for a good five years until he passed away in his sleep.

Never in our entire lives would he up and leave us so suddenly. We shut the company down to honor him for a day and everyone that knew this man cried for weeks.

I certainly won't forget him and what pains he went through just to help me out. (Most of it was making sure I wasn't snowed in. ) But I heard now his grandchildren and wife are picking up where he left off, but not just to the people who's wages aren't really helping them, but the entire community.

They are the most wonderful people you've ever met. They're not rich or poor, but they do everything in their power to help those in need.

[otakuq]

i cant really think of any feats of heroism or anything... this is hard!

[Tippeddoor]

A medal !!!
The only nice person in my town is the local homeless guy Johnny wellie man who goes around trying to give people sweets and other things he finds in his pockets <3
I don't think thats appropriate :(
May have to think of someone else

I'll edit this post when i think of something :D

[hokeymon]

i cant really think of any feats of heroism or anything... this is hard!

Right, right! I can't think of anyone who helped me when I got bullied countless times when I was a kid :(

Give me a day or 2. Maybe there is someone who did.

[kaifox]

im still thinking again who's my UNSUNG HERO hahaha..

im recalling her name.. give me a day or 3 but if you like 3 hahaha >_<

[Kimmy37]

This is probably a little long, but I guess I really wanted everyone to understand the situation I was in and how these men brought me out of it.

When I transferred schools in the first grade, I was afraid that I wouldn't make any friends. I don't know why I felt that way since I was one of the most popular girls in my class at my old school, but I still felt that terrible dread as it settled heavily into my stomach and reached up to clench at my heart.

Of course, my sleepless nights were all for naught. I made plenty of friends! In fact, I somehow ended up being friends with the most popular people in the class. At the time, I didn't really know that they were, and I didn't really care. I just knew that I really liked them because they were so nice and smart. The teachers, seeing our friendship growing, put us at the same table and gave us the same "daily chores" to do. It was so fantastic to be with my new friends all the time!

Then, our day came to clean the reading rug. The four of us, all being under seven, took the rug outside, laid it on the ground, and asked each other what to do about it. No one else was there to give their opinion. We were unsupervised.

After a while, we thought to put the rug over some rails and kick it. Two of our group went to borrow brooms so they could beat it. It was so fun! We all were laughing and giggling so loudly!

And that's when it happened. The girl across from me swung her broom hard and fast, completely missing the rug. It struck me in the mouth, and I blacked out.

When I came to, I was several feet away, still standing. Everyone was staring at me with horror etched into their faces. Realizing something was wrong, I finally noticed that my mouth was full of blood and very numb. Slowly, I reached to my face and gently prodded around to find the problem. That's when I felt true dread grip my bones with its icy fingers. My front teeth were gone.

By the time we got to the teacher, blood was everywhere. They were afraid of getting into trouble for not supervising us, so they simply sent me home and did little else. The teachers said it wasn't that bad of a problem. After all, I was young. I'd have another set grow in.

Little did they know that by the age of six, I already had all my permanent teeth.

As anyone could imagine, when I was able to return to school, minus my two front teeth, the atmosphere had changed. The teachers moved me away from my friends to a new group of people. This section of the room was reserved for those who always failed their tests, never spoke out in class, and had head lice. I suppose it was the perfect for me since I was defected, too.

My parents couldn't afford to replace my front teeth, so they got dental insurance. No dentist in the area would touch my teeth, though, because I was so young. They said my mouth needed to finish growing first.

The years passed by, and my "friends" never spoke to me again, unless it was to harass me about my condition. My mom lost her job and with it, the dental insurance. I was ashamed to smile, afraid to laugh, scared to talk to anyone. I had been bullied in school, in church, and anywhere else I went. My only sanctuary was my room where no one would see me, no one would call me names, no one would beat me, and no one would pity me. I slowly withdrew from the world, making only one or two friends who normally didn't stick around for very long.

At some point, I accepted that my life was going to be this way forever. I knew I wouldn't be able to get a decent job without front teeth. I knew that no one would like me in college. I knew that no one would ever want me around them, as a friend or otherwise.

After my ninth grade year (the first year in high school), my church changed pastors. He saw my condition and asked the adults how long I had been that way and what happened. They answered him, saying that they'd always known me to have the problem, and they heard it was some sort of childhood accident. He asked if my parents were neglectful or if they were trying to fix my teeth. The adults explained that my parents were actually very, very poor and couldn't afford to help. I believe that at this point, he was filled with rage. He demanded to know why nothing was done for a member of the church, especially one with a need so great. No suitable answer was given.

Being a true man of God, when he saw a problem like this, he had a desire to fix it. Within weeks, he had asked several people to donate to a fund to support my dental recovery. I knew nothing of this until much later. He contacted a dentist that he knew to be Christian and asked how much he would need to collect to fix me. He answered, "Nothing. I know you have somethings you need in the church. Take whatever you've collected and apply it to that. I'll do this for her for free."

The day before I started tenth grade, the dentist called me into his office and spent over four hours giving me porcelain caps. When I came out of surgery, everything was fuzzy. I didn't understand having teeth again. He asked me to smile so that he could take a picture, but I didn't know what to do. I hadn't smiled in ten years. When I tried, pity washed over his face as he whispered, "Bless your heart. You haven't smiled in a long time, have you? You're not used to it anymore." The assistant almost cried at the scene, and looking back on it, I almost do myself. At the time, though, I remember thinking, "But now I have the rest of my life to get it right. I don't have to be afraid anymore."

My life changed radically at this point. Everyone began to see me as a happy person. True, I still am not able to smile on command, but I finally learned to let myself laugh and smile naturally, and I hear it's really beautiful.

Every time I laugh, every time I eat, every time I smile, I'm so thankful to the pastor and the dentist who allowed such a life to happen for me. I'm so thankful to God for putting these men in my life so that it might be happy and filled with good cheer.

[track95]

I dont getreally dont get it

[OVirus53]

I honestly wish I could say I had a story. But I don't.

:^/

[makoi]

This is a story of a friend of mine. We’ve been friends since high school, but he went to another college/university (I went to University of the Philippines and he went to Polytechnic University of the Philippines). Well, this story all happened after we were hit by the 50 year flood, which was caused by Ondoy (or its international name “Ketsana”). We are living in Marikina City so it was quite deep (lucky that in our area, it was just up to my waist, I’m blessed to be a 6’0 so it wasn’t that hassle-y, some places in our city, it went up over the roof, so…. I feel really lucky). Well, my friend liked this classmate of his in college a lot, well, you can say that he loves her. He would go on and on about her but when he meets her personally, he’s just like “H….h…h…..h..i…..hi!” and then, he just pretends to do something else. But he’s more of an “action speaks louder than words” guy so he shows his affection through other means. Well, I guess this girl likes him too, but my friend (the dork that he is) just doesn’t have the courage to tell her face to face what he feels. The girl lives in Provident Village (such luck she has), and when he found out that the flood there was like 10 feet deep, he was like going nuts because of worrying too much for her (he just txted me how he feels becoz I’m flooded too, all telephones and electricity was out). He’s lucky that he’s in an area in Quezon City that didn’t get affected. So, after the flood “disappeared”, there was mud (from the river) all over the place, plus there are wet and unusable household items and furniture so…….. IT’S CLEANING TYM!!!! The girl whom my friend loves, survived in spite of the depth and strength of the current of the flood. My friend, being an action-type of a guy, volunteered to help her clean her house. All was fine and he feel fulfilled from the depth of his heart.
Several days after the general cleaning, my friend was taken to a hospital because of his high fever. He didn’t tell the girl because he was afraid that she might get sick if his sickness turned out to be contagious (He invited me instead (the bastard!!!)). So there I was in the ward with him. He’s really pale and weak. I asked his mother what was the diagnosis (my friend only knows that he has a fever, as his mother puts it to him). She said, in a weak, worried voice “Leptospirosis”. I was taken aback because from what I know, it’s not one of those daily sicknesses and generally occurs in flooded areas because of contamination of a wound from rat pee. Since there wasn’t any flood in their house, he must have got it from the girl’s house, while he was cleaning. When I talked to him, I think he knows he’s really ill. He handed me a piece of folded paper, and said that I must give it to her. I agreed and I went home. It was like 2am in the morning when a txt msg alert tone rang. My cellphone was close to my ear so it woke me up. I read the message………it was from his mother………..foreboding tells me this is something I don’t want to know……too late……I already scrolled down and…….and……………

He’s gone.

The next morning, I went to the girl’s house, told her everything and gave her his letter, a piece of paper folded into 4 parts. She opened it and there were three words, three small, well-written words.

“I love you”



p.s. may he be happy in heaven!

[avich]

@makoi

Isn't there any cure for that disease?

@Kimmy

I'm so happy for you :) Didn't anybody tried to befriend you during those times?

[makoi]

well, my friend didn't tell his parents early so it was already late when he was sent to the hospital.

[Kimmy37]

I did have a few friends, but I had to befriend them, not the other way around.

[Omikaru]

@makoi

Isn't there any cure for that disease?




In some countries, there are, unfortunately for us in the States, there isn't one. The most you could do is prevent it from coming to you, like staying sanitized before and after leaving a flooded home on cleaning duty and wearing very protective gear.

**Note: From a friend in medical school. I asked him about it.