They Put Down Their Phones and Ran Toward the Danger

Fifteen true stories of teenage boys and young men who saw someone in danger—and moved toward it

Camron Swann, 15, Kirvon Johnson, 14, and Kesean Wilson, 14, saved a child from drowning in Cleveland, OH.

The West is full of heroic young men. The headlines have become a liturgy of bad news about young men: they are disengaged, addicted, angry, aimless. That concern is real and there are many institutions working on these issues, but this is not the whole story. Lots of young men are thriving and selflessly changing lives in their local communities.

In my book on Heroic Fraternities, I frame masculinity this way: “using your power, presence, creativity, and strength for the benefit of others.” There are countless stories of young men doing just that but those stories are drowned out by stories of the opposite.

What if, instead of telling men not to be bad men, we encourage them to be heroic and focused our efforts on telling those stories? Over the past eighteen months, teenage boys and young men in the United States and the United Kingdom have run into burning houses, climbed fences to reach drowning children, performed CPR on family members and strangers, paddled across ice, guided stranded hikers down a winter mountain, and rushed toward a burning airplane that might have exploded at any moment.

They didn’t do this because it was their job. They didn’t do this because of a non-profit they started to put on their college resume. They acted because they have this deep sense of manliness being oriented toward making other people’s lives better.

They didn’t sit around passively capturing the crisis in front of them on their phones to post on social media, which has to be the height of cowardice. Instead, they put their phones down and risked their lives because someone else was in need. We need to capture these stories and celebrate them. We need to share them. Boys need to grow up hearing them over and over again. These stories are aspirational. These are the kinds of young men all parents should want their sons to be. Being heroic trumps being “successful.” In my view, there is nothing more pathetic than a young man who has a great resume but has never sacrificed himself for others. I would call those guys “losers.”

In fact, a culture becomes distorted when it publicizes every failure of young men but barely notices when they do something heroic. Below are the stories of regular young men who understand that, at its core, being a man is being heroic. As is said on “Law & Order,” “these are their stories.”

They ran toward the danger

1. Three Maine teenagers entered a burning farmhouse

In the early hours of New Year’s Day 2025, Colby Simmons, 16, Robert Weymouth, 16, and Kaleb Weymouth, 14, saw an orange glow in the distance while driving through rural Atkinson, Maine. They followed it and discovered a barn attached to a farmhouse on fire.

The boys called 911, entered the unlocked home, and shouted until they awakened a sleeping couple. One of the residents was on a couch near the spreading flames. The teenagers helped the couple outside and stayed with them for hours. The local fire chief said their actions probably saved both lives.

Kaleb later reduced the entire event to a simple moral rule: “Don’t hesitate. Do the right thing.”

Source: The Washington Post: “3 teens run into burning Maine farmhouse, rescue sleeping couple”

2. A 15-year-old kept his stepfather alive with CPR

On March 19, 2025, Anthony Killinger’s mother found her husband, Michael Reese, in cardiac arrest at their home near Buffalo, New York. Anthony was 15. He had learned CPR in high-school health class.

He performed CPR for roughly eight minutes while the family waited for paramedics. Doctors later told them that Anthony’s response was a major reason his stepfather survived (and survived without the severe brain damage that often follows prolonged oxygen loss). Anthony’s advice afterward was direct: learn CPR. You may one day need it.

Source: ABC News: “15-year-old helps save stepdad with CPR he learned in school”

3. A Cleveland teenager carried a ladder to a burning home

On March 28, 2025, Tyler Sowden, 16, heard screams and saw smoke rising from a house in his Cleveland neighborhood. A mother, a 10-month-old baby, and a seven-year-old boy were trapped on a second-story porch roof.

Tyler ran to his garage, grabbed a ladder, carried it past several houses, and positioned it against the burning home. He climbed up, took the baby in one arm, and brought her down while holding the ladder with the other. Then he helped the child and mother descend. Less than a minute after the family reached safety, the house was engulfed in flames.

Source: The Washington Post: “Teen grabbed ladder, ran to neighbor’s burning home”

4. A 12-year-old saved his baby brothers and grandmother

In Petersburg, Virginia, Ramir Parker was home with his grandmother and two younger brothers when he noticed heavy smoke in the house in June 2025. Ramir was only 12. He ran through the smoke to grab his one- and two-year-old brothers from the couch where they were sleeping, carried them both outside, and made sure his grandmother got out behind him. Everyone was safe before firefighters arrived.

His city formally recognized him as a hero. The title was deserved.

Source: The Guardian: “US city declares 12-year-old boy a hero for saving his family from house fire”

5. Three boys climbed a 12-foot fence to reach a drowning child

On June 6, 2025, Camron Swann, 15, Kirvon Johnson, 14, and Kesean Wilson, 14, were playing basketball at a Cleveland recreation center when they heard desperate screams from the pool area. They climbed a 12-foot fence and found a seven-year-old unconscious in nine feet of water.

Two of the three boys could not swim. Think about that for a moment. They climbed a fence and entered a pool area knowing they could not swim, because a child was dying. They improvised with a pool noodle, moved the child toward the edge, and worked together to pull him out. Others administered CPR, and the child began breathing.

Kesean explained their decision with the kind of moral clarity adults often overcomplicate: if he were drowning, he would want someone to jump in and save him.

Source: Cleveland 19 News: “Cleveland teenagers hailed as heroes for saving a 7-year-old boy from drowning”

6. An 18-year-old paddled across an icy pond to save a dog

In February 2026, Hugh Pinneo, 18, saw a neighbor’s dog struggling after breaking through the ice on a pond in Chesapeake, Virginia. He put a kayak onto the frozen surface, used his paddle to work through the ice, reached the animal, and pulled it aboard.

This was not a human rescue. But it revealed the same reflex: something vulnerable was in danger, and a young man decided that standing safely on shore was not good enough.

Source: The Washington Post: “Teen grabs kayak, paddles through icy pond to save neighborhood dog”

7. A Philadelphia teenager stopped a moving truck during a medical emergency

In March 2026, Jaheim Warner, 17, encountered a woman who appeared to be having a seizure inside a locked pickup truck that was still rolling toward an intersection. Jaheim found a pipe in a nearby trash can, smashed the back window, squeezed through, and stayed with the woman until emergency personnel arrived.

His courage was not only physical. He was calm enough to solve the immediate problem before it became a catastrophe.

Source: CBS Philadelphia: “High school student breaks truck window to save woman appearing to have a seizure”

8. A 17-year-old jumped a fence when he saw a house burning

Marek Dessimoz, 17, was golfing with his family in Johnston, Iowa, on May 10, 2026, when he noticed smoke coming from a nearby home. He jumped a six-foot fence, ran to the house, and pounded on the windows. After locating the homeowner, Marek and an Amazon driver urged her outside as a propane tank exploded and the fire spread. They also stopped her from reentering the home to search for her cat, which was later found alive.

The fire chief said Marek contributed directly to saving the woman’s life. Marek resisted being called the hero because other people had helped. His humility made the story better, not smaller.

Source: People: “High School Student, 17, Helps to Rescue Woman from Home Engulfed in Flames”

9. Two teenagers revived a three-year-old girl

On Memorial Day 2026, Jackson Leonard, 17, and Isaac Hassell, 15, heard a mother screaming at Lake Bailey in Vilonia, Arkansas. Her three-year-old daughter had been pulled from the water face-down, blue, limp, and unresponsive. Isaac had received CPR certification only about a week earlier. He began compressions. Jackson arrived with a breathing mask, and together they performed repeated cycles of CPR until the girl began regaining color and opening her eyes.

She survived and celebrated her birthday the following week. Isaac said he expected nothing in return. He was simply glad she was alive.

Source: People: “Teen Had Only Been CPR Certified for Days When He Heard a Mom Shouting for Help”

10. Two 13-year-olds noticed the woman everyone else had missed

On June 9, 2026, Gunner Skidmore and Kohen Chick, both 13, were riding bicycles near Fruitland, Iowa, when they noticed an elderly woman lying in her yard. She had apparently fallen while caring for her horse and had been stranded outside for more than 16 hours without a phone or water.

The boys stopped, asked whether she needed help, and summoned an adult who called 911. Their heroism was quieter than running into a fire. It began with paying attention. They saw a person whom everyone else had driven or walked right past.

Source: People: “13-Year-Old Boys Hailed Heroes After Saving Injured Elderly Woman”

11. A 23-year-old ran toward a burning airplane

On June 16, 2026, a business jet made an emergency landing on a highway in Laredo, Texas, broke apart, and caught fire. Ivan Franco, a 23-year-old tow-truck driver, stopped his vehicle, grabbed a sledgehammer and fire extinguishers from his truck, and moved toward the wreck. The aircraft might have exploded. He tried to break the cockpit glass while other motorists worked to open the cabin door and pull passengers out.

Five of the six people aboard survived, including two pilots and three teenagers. A truck driver struck by the plane also survived. Franco did not have specialized aviation-rescue training. He had tools, courage, and almost no time.

Source: Associated Press: “With a sledgehammer and a shovel, volunteers raced to save passengers in Texas plane crash”

Across the Atlantic

12. Two teenage climbers guided stranded adults off a snowy ridge

On January 10, 2026, Rowan Kay, 15, and Caelan Blades, 16, were properly equipped for winter climbing on Helvellyn in England’s Lake District. On the exposed Striding Edge ridge, they encountered five adults and a dog who were stranded in snow and ice. The adults were reportedly wearing jeans and trainers and lacked proper winter equipment.

The boys used their experience and judgment to guide the group carefully down to a safer route. This was courage joined to competence. They could help because they had first learned how to handle themselves.

Source: People: “2 Teen Boys Rescue Group of Stranded Adults from Mountain”

13. A 15-year-old launched his dinghy to rescue two adults at sea

On June 20, 2026, Archie Law, 15, spotted two men in trouble in Broadford Bay on the Isle of Skye. They had fallen from an inflatable toy boat, had no lifejackets, and their phones had been damaged by water. Archie launched his motorized dinghy, reached the men before the lifeboat arrived, and brought both safely ashore. The local lifeboat commander said Archie’s quick response prevented a much more serious outcome.

A 15-year-old boy saw two grown men in danger and became the person upon whom their lives depended.

Source: The Guardian: “Teenager rescues two men who fell from inflatable toy boat off Isle of Skye”

Courage does not always produce a happy ending

14. A 21-year-old died trying to save a drowning boy

On March 8, 2025, a 13-year-old boy slipped from rocks into a river near Ridgeway, South Carolina. Valentin Quiroz, 21, and Lonnie Hancock, 43, entered the water to help. The boy was pulled out alive. Quiroz and Hancock drowned.

The sheriff described their actions as the definition of heroism: they saw a child in trouble and did not hesitate. This is not a feel-good story. It is a story about sacrifice, and it should be named as such.

Source: People: “South Carolina Veteran Dies on His Birthday Trying to Save 13-Year-Old Boy from Drowning”

15. A 16-year-old died trying to push his friend away from a train

On July 3, 2025, Jordan Everett, 16, tried to save his friend Joshua Myers after Joshua climbed onto the tracks at Poynton railway station in Cheshire. Witnesses said Jordan shouted for his friend to get off the tracks, jumped down, and tried to push or tackle him to safety as a train approached. Both boys were killed.

At the 2026 inquest, the coroner told Jordan’s family that he was a hero and commended his selflessness. The story is devastating. But Jordan’s final act belongs in any honest account of what young men are capable of.

Source: ITV News: “‘Hero’ teenager died trying to save friend from train, inquest hears”

What these stories reveal

These stories don’t negate the fact that many young men are struggling, but they do point to the fact that we can have hope. Under the right conditions, we can unleash an army of young men who won’t think twice about sacrificing themselves for others.

Here’s something to think about: these young men acted because they were taught skills. When young men are taught real skills they will use them in a crisis. Resume building for college acceptance isn’t learning skills. These young men knew about climbing, CPR, how to operate boats, how to use tools, and so on. Someone taught them how to do something that mattered and when it came time to use those hard skills they acted and saved a life. We need to teach boys skills, not for their own success but for the benefit of others.

These young men did not act because it “looks good on a resume.” They did not act because they wanted to perform for others. They didn’t act because they were chasing social media clout. They acted because this is what real men were put on this earth to do: using their power, presence, creativity, and strength for the benefit of others, even if it meant they died doing so. This is one of the most Christlike behaviors a young man could ever activate.

How sad it is that so many boys are raised to pursue a bubble-wrapped existence, not sacrificing themselves for the benefit of others. These young men show us another way.

Losers live lives of resume building and self-preservation. Heroic men live lives of self-sacrifice, fighting against the brokenness of the world. They run into danger for others, they don’t avoid it because “it’s not safe.”

Raise heroes, not “successful,” self-centered cowards who never put themselves in harm’s way so that someone else might live. Boys need to be led by men who not only show this in their own lives but also bring them into opportunities to do the same.

These young men are teaching us all something invaluable. They weren’t raised for comfort, they were raised for sacrifice. The world would be a radically different place if men, as a default setting, ran into danger for others. Selflessness is true masculinity.