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Heroes

Heroes

Gardener in India spends his days tending plants and saving people from suicide attempts

He's saved over 50 people who have jumped in the river.

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Gardener in India has pulled 50 people from river, thwarting suicide attempts

Editor's Note: This story discusses suicide. If you are having thoughts about taking your own life, or know of anyone who is in need of help, the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline is a United States-based suicide prevention network of over 200+ crisis centers that provides 24/7 service via a toll-free hotline with the number 9-8-8. It is available to anyone in suicidal crisis or emotional distress.

People struggling with mental health is universal. There's no shortage of mental health conditions or life circumstances that cause people to quickly spiral into depression when things don't look up for long periods of time. In those moments of struggle, it can be helpful to have someone around that you can talk to but not everyone has access to that. And not everyone who has a solid support system reaches out when things take a dark turn.

For some, they see suicide as a way out of the suffering they may be experiencing but in many cases the suffering will pass if the person holds on a little longer.Cuttack, India is the home of Mahanadi barrage, a concrete fixture that is designed to divert water in rivers and other bodies of water. Some barrages also double as a bridge allowing cars and pedestrians to cross but in Cuttack, people were using the barrage for another reason–jumping into the river.

The Mahanadi river has an extremely strong current making it difficult to swim in, so unless you're in a boat it's unusual to see people in the dangerous body of water. That's where Babuli Behera comes in. He's a 55-year-old garden supervisor for the Cuttack Municipal Corporation and has thwarted over 50 suicide attempts from people leaping from the top of the barrage.

Behera's life-saving mission didn't just start recently, the first time he saved a woman who stepped off of the water diverting apparatus was when he was just 15. The then teen boy had newly dropped out of high school to help his parents' fishing business when the woman jumping from the barrage caught his eye causing him to instinctively jump in the raging river after her. Thanks to his quick action and strong swimming skills, he was able to get the woman safely ashore.

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Behera tells The New Indian Times that his parents ensured that he knew how to swim against the river's strong currents before he began fishing with them.

“There was no concrete barrage over Mahanadi then. There was a wooden barrage a few metres above the present barrage. I had mastered the trick of taking the perfect dive into Mahanadi from the wooden barrage,” he tells the outlet.

a man in a yellow turban is picking flowers Photo by Shruti Singh on Unsplash

Thanks to his experience, though he's no longer a fisherman he can't help but keep an eye on the top of the barrage when he's tending to the garden. This has allowed him to save many people, including teenagers. Behera's not alone in his efforts though, he works alongside his wife to make sure the people he rescues gets to the hospital and the couple stays with them until the person's family comes.

While it may seem like Behera is a real life super hero, he has been hurt while trying to rescue someone from the dangerous river. In July, the man broke his leg while saving an elderly woman who jumped in the river. Though he broke his leg, he was still able to rescue the woman and get her to safety.

Behera tells The New Indian Times, “When we ask them why they want to end their lives, the students would blame it on exam failure. The women mostly jumped into the river due to failed affairs, marriages or domestic violence.”

Back in 2018, Behera's son, Chandan also earned his superhero cape after a bus careened off of the bridge into the river. The boy jumped into the water and helped pull out several passengers, so saving lives is sort of the family business. Behera is well respected in Cuttack as many people have seen him unselfishly put himself at risk to save the life of someone attempting suicide. He was also recognized by the Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi and Deputy Chief Minister Pravati Parida for his heroic acts.

Winner Celebrate GIF by AwkwafinaGiphy

The man and his wife don't run any sort of specialized organization, he's simply a gardener with a keen eye for people in distress and a childhood survival swim skill. Hopefully the people Behera saved got the help they needed long after they were pulled from the river and are living happy and healthy lives.

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NICU nurse adopts 14-year-old patient who delivered triplets alone

“I knew it would be impossible to find a foster home that would take all four of them. No one was going to take a teen mom and her preemie triplets.”

Today|YouTube

NICU nurse adopts teen with three babies.

Having your first baby is a scary experience. Everything is new—you've quite literally never done this before—not to mention an entire human is going to be removed from your body one way or another. Childbirth, no matter how your baby leaves your body, is not for the weak. But imagine giving birth alone to not just one baby, but three, all at the same time. Then imagine doing that feat at the age of 14.

Shariya Small experienced that scenario in a hospital in Indiana, and her nurse Katrina Mullen took note. Small's babies were premature, born at just 26 weeks, when the average gestation for triplets is 33 weeks, according to ReproductiveFacts.org. Due to their early birth, the babies, Serenitee, Samari and Sarayah, had to stay in the NICU at Community Hospital North in Indianapolis for more than five months, according to Today.com.

During their time in the NICU, Mullen noticed the young mom visited her babies alone, not appearing to have much of a support system. “She’d be there alone for days at a time sitting at her babies’ bedside,” Mullen told Today.com.

The pair got to know each other over the months that the babies were in the hospital, but Small continued to be reluctant to open up about her family life. That changed after she found out that Mullen had her first child at 16 and had given it up for adoption. Their experiences bonded the two moms, and Mullen began helping to care for the babies and Small by giving her advice and showing her how to properly care for the infants.

Eventually, Mullen gave Small her phone number before the babies were discharged from the hospital. It quickly became apparent that Small did not have a support system, as she called Mullen often asking for advice. Out of concern, the nurse went to visit Small an hour away, where she was living with a family member.

The condition of the home was concerning enough, but Mullen became even more worried when she saw how thin Small's son Samari was. It turns out he had to be admitted to the hospital, which prompted a visit from Child Protective Services, who determined that Small and her three infants would need to enter foster care. She gave the social worker Mullen's information and things began to fall into place.

Listen to Small and Mullen explain their unique story below:

This article originally appeared on 4.10.23

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A 79-yr-old broke her leg while hiking alone. A stranger carried her back down on his back.

Rather than let her wait five hours for search and rescue, Airman Troy May and other hikers helped get Ursula Bannister to safety.

Photos courtesy of Joint Base Lewis-McChord/Airman 1st Class Benjamin Riddle (right)

Ursula Bannister was fortunate to have a group of strangers come to her rescue after she broke her leg in three places.

It's not often you see an almost-80-year-old woman hiking alone, much less on a trail considered a difficult hike. But for 79-year-old Ursula Bannister, the trek up to High Rock Lookout in Washington state is a meaningful annual tradition. She had scattered her mother's ashes atop the lookout 23 years ago and she goes back to lay flowers at the scenic spot overlooking Mount Rainier every year.

She usually goes with a family member, but this year she couldn't find anyone to accompany her. The 3.2 mile hike is steep, but as an experienced hiker with poles, she wasn't nervous about it. She made it to the top, ate her lunch and took some pictures. But soon after turning around to make her way back down, her foot caught in a hole and she fell.

“I decided to cut over to the trail, through some bush," she told KOMO News. "I went bushwhacking and my right foot found a critter hole…I went down and I knew right away. My foot was broken.”

She wrapped her leg and tried to get up with her hiking pole, but her ankle collapsed under her when she stood on it.

Unable to hike down the trail with a broken leg, she would have had to wait five hours for search and rescue.

Bannister was in a lot of pain and cried out for help. Soon strangers found her and one called 911, but the dispatcher said it would take about five hours for a search and rescue team to arrive. Bannister asked if anyone had pain killers, but no one did.

That's when 20-year-old U.S. Air Force Airman 1st Class Troy May and some friends came along to help. Rather than have her wait for search and rescue, May and his friend, Layton Allen, offered to carry Bannister back down the trail.

“I knew I was capable of carrying her down,” May, who is stationed at Washington's Joint Base Lewis-McChord, told MSN. “I really didn’t make much of a decision, I just knew I needed to carry her down if I could.”

A whole group of strangers rallied to help get the woman down the trail safely

But May and Layton were not the only strangers on the trail to offer their services to help Bannister down the mountain. A physical therapist used wood scraps to build a splint and bandaged her up. An occupational therapist helped keep her calm by doing breathing exercises with her. When May's cowboy boots—which he said he wears everywhere—started giving him blisters as he carried Bannister down the trail, another stranger who saw the situation gave May his own boots to wear. The group who accompanied her shared stories and asked her questions about her life to distract her and keep her from screaming in pain during the hike down.

elderly woman on the back of a young man on a trail Ursula Bannister being carried by Airman Troy May and friends. Photo courtesy of media.defense.gov

Bannister said it felt like all of these people were "behaving like angels coming from the sky" and she was so thankful for their help.

May took the brunt of the physical labor, carrying Bannister for most of the 1.6 mile down the mountain, taking turns with Allen as needed. To make the slow, steep trek more comfortable for Bannister, they put a backpack on the front of whoever was carrying her and ran her legs through the straps to stabilize them a bit.

The young rescuers made sure she got to the hospital and stayed with her until family arrived.

Allen then drove Bannister to the hospital in her car with May following in his car. They waited with her at the hospital until her son arrived.

“I was just overwhelmed with gratitude that these people literally came out of the woods to help me and they were totally unselfish and kind,” Bannister told MSN.

Bannister ended up with more than 10 screws and a plate in her leg, which was broken in three places. And Airman May ended up with a medal of achievement for his selfless rescue of the woman.

Air Force Airman Troy May holding achievement medalU.S. Air Force Airman 1st Class Troy May, 62d Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, holds Air Force Achievement Medal at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington, Sept. 13, 2024. Photo by Airman 1st Class Benjamin Riddle

“One of the Air Force’s core values is service before self, and Airman 1st Class May clearly exemplified that core value with his actions,” said Lt. Col. Joshua Clifford, 62nd AMXS commander. “While our team of Airmen showcase amazing accomplishments every day, we relish the opportunity to focus on one Airman’s courage and recognize them for truly living the Air Force’s core values.”

"Carrying her down that evening wasn't the easiest thing to do, but it was the right thing to do," Airman First Class May told ABC's David Muir.

A tearful Bannister also offered her "heartfelt thanks" to all of the people who helped her.

“People are amazing," she told KOMO. "You know we might not agree politically we might not agree socially but we certainly agree on the human platform and people will drop whatever they’re doing to help somebody in need,” Ursula added.

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What you should know about Banned Books Week, according to librarians

"Acts of censorship of any kind weaken our democracy."

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Banned Books Weeks runs from Sept 22-28

It’s not every day that we think of librarians as heroes for democracy. But as they continue to show up on the frontlines against books bans—often at the risk of their own professional livelihood—the label is well earned.

Perhaps it should come as no surprise how passionately librarians are fighting to protect the free flow of information. They are, after all, natural “helpers in society,” says Cindy Hohl, president of the American Library Association (ALA), and a librarian herself for the past decade.

Hohl has seen firsthand how librarians have been essential advocates for literacy, access to accurate information and (especially now) anti-censorship. But those who have spoken up against book bans often get falsely accused of wrongdoing, which Hohl says is “harmful” for all Americans.

Photo courtesy of Cindy Hohl

“Americans have fought for and enjoy many freedoms guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution and the First Amendment is for everyone, from children to adults,” she told Upworthy. “It is not appropriate for anyone to tell anyone else what they should read, watch, listen to, or even believe. We can trust our neighbors to make informed decisions for themselves and acts of censorship of any kind weaken our democracy. We are empowered to seek out accurate information and make decisions for ourselves and our families, but not for anyone else.”

Besides censorship violating a fundamental American right, Hohl notes that it only serves as a “dehumanizing distraction.”

“The U.S. Government already has a lot to regulate…We don’t need distractions when everyone has a right to hear the truth. Censorship is causing a division among us and that behavior needs to stop. No voices should be silenced in America.”

And it’s with this emboldened sentiment that the librarians of the ALA are looking to celebrate Banned Books Week, running from Sept 22-28.

Banned Books Week was originally launched in 1982 in response to a sudden surge in the number of challenges to books in libraries, bookstores, and schools. The annual event highlights the value of free and open access to information and brings together the entire book community — librarians, educators, authors, publishers, booksellers, and readers of all types — in shared support of the freedom to seek and to express ideas.

However, with this year’s staggeringly high number of banned books—a large amount being LGBTQ titles—there is less cause for celebration, and more for urgent action. That’s why the ALA is spreading the word on what folks can do to keep books on the shelves.

First and foremost, they are urging people to join in on Freedom to Read Day on Oct 19th, when libraries, bookstores, readers, and other partners nationwide will be hosting rallies and community events to unite against book bans and demonstrate shared commitment to this fundamental freedom. Get information about a nearby event , or to host your own, here.

Second, you can share “book résumés,” which detail each title’s significance and educational value with administrators, book review committees, elected officials, and board members. Those can be found here.

And last, but certainly not least, Hohl urges everyone to support your local library and staff. Quite simply because “we need recognition of our good work.” Now, more than ever, that statement seems to ring true.

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