Heroes in Plain Sight: What a Teen Lifeguard Can Teach Us About Real Heroism

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We are currently in awe of a 16-year-old lifeguard in California who was filmed holding tightly to a struggling, overwhelmed 10-year-old boy who was ready to be carried out to sea, but not for the heroic efforts of the first-year lifeguard (Toohey, 2026). The teen lifeguard passed it off as just another day at the office for lifeguards like himself (Toohey, 2026). And that is why we love him even more. He does not describe what happened for glory, but his actions were heroic in the true sense of the word. It may be that we need a reminder about what “heroic” really is.

Patrick Bet-David, in his best-selling book “Your Next Five Moves” (Bet-David, 2020) wrote that heroes can be an inspiration to people asking themselves the question, “Who do you want to be?” Unfortunately, we have also discovered once-revered heroes who have fallen off their pedestals of late. Dr. Anthony Fauci, who was previously considered a hero for directing the US government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, has suddenly turned out to have made contradictory statements to the public as compared to his transparent statements in his own diary, causing some legislators to label him a fraud (Iorfida, 2026). That’s the problem with making human beings into heroes. There are times when heroes fall off their pedestal because they are simply human beings who may not always act each time in a heroic manner (Celizic, 2009).

In a great article by a favorite sports writer who left us way too soon, Mike Celizic wrote about us propping up athletes as heroes (Celizic, 2009). Celizic noted that young people tend to elevate their favorite ball player as a hero and idolize them. But these ball players are human beings, and while they have extraordinary talent, they are also not perfect. Celizic reviews a host of modern-day sports “heroes” who have said or done some extraordinarily dumb things despite the amazing athletic talent they have (Celizic, 2009).

This brings to mind our most recent ‘athlete as hero ’, Sophie Cunningham (Grossman, 2026). For Cunningham, she has not achieved hero status because of her prowess on the basketball court. She was elevated to heroine by saying something that seems pretty common sense, but in our world today is not often commonly stated. Cunningham plays in a professional sports league that is for women only. She knows that men and women have different abilities and stated that women’s sports should be for women only (Grossman, 2026). While this may be common sense to some people, for some reason that is not commonly stated today. Even in her own sports league, several head coaches of different teams seem to be tripping over themselves, trying to make room for boys who want to be girls to make those choices if they wanted (Thompson, 2026). Why would they want to? I’m not really sure that anyone has answered that question.

Meanwhile, Sophie Cunningham has caused a social media meltdown with her statements (Thompson, 2026) and has achieved hero status because she stated clearly what she believed to be true. If Sophie Cunningham were playing in a mixed sports league, she knows that men would be able to dominate any women who played against them. So by speaking her mind and pointing out that men and women are different, Cunningham is now idolized by some and hated by others (Grossman, 2026).

I guess the key here is having a definition of what a hero really is. According to the Cambridge Dictionary, a hero is… “a person who is admired for having done something very brave or having achieved something great” (Cambridge Dictionary, n.d.). Could we say that a hero is one like Desmond Doss (Cayer, 2025)? This Congressional Medal of Honor recipient was mocked and nearly discharged for refusing, on religious grounds, to carry a weapon into combat. Yet at Okinawa’s Hacksaw Ridge, he went back into enemy fire again and again, alone and unarmed, lowering dozens of wounded men to safety simply because it was the right thing to do.

Based on this Cambridge Dictionary definition, could we say that a hero is someone who lives their values, no matter the circumstances? They stand up for what they believe, despite incredible pressures, up to and including death threats, and even death itself. A hero doesn’t seek to be extraordinary: a hero at first lives life as an ordinary person until a need arises. They do not look around for someone else to fill this need; but they fill it themselves, despite overwhelming odds against them, when most people would turn back or change course or walk on by, not wanting to get involved. A hero is someone who stands up for truth and lives out their values, not wanting to bring attention to themselves – they stand out by simply doing things that are right because they are the right thing to do. 

This would apply to independent journalist Nick Shirley, who has been commended by Congress for his work exposing waste and fraud (Congress.gov, 2026). Shirley has received death threats over his fraud investigations in Minnesota and California, and has been physically attacked while reporting overseas; his California reporting also prompted state lawmakers to advance legislation critics have dubbed the “Stop Nick Shirley Act” (La, 2026). How about that independent grocery store owner/operator in New York City who is trying to serve his or her customers who have no place else to get their groceries, all the while facing price increases, major theft, weak, if any, policing along with growing homeless encampments? Having done everything else to stay afloat, they now face the prospect of a well-funded government-subsidized grocery store competitor to take their remaining business away from them (Macias and DiMella, 2026).

One of my personal heroes would be my lovely wife, Debi. Debi works a full-time, very demanding job in health care, and also makes time to care for her elderly father with Alzheimer’s as well as her husband who has a neurological disorder. She continues to manage her household and squeeze in time with grandchildren, doing all of this very selflessly. My other personal hero is Pastor Antonio Woolard of St. Paul’s Christian Fellowship, an inner-city congregation in Norfolk, Virginia. Pastor Woolard has been a model, a Golden Gloves boxer, an elite special forces soldier as well as a self-proclaimed “drug kingpin” prior to his conversion (Mobley, 2021). Since committing his life to Christ, he has served this small congregation and promoted “stop the violence” rallies across the city to help young people choose an alternative path to street justice. Sadly, because of his status in the community, he regularly conducts funerals for those suffering from violent encounters, averaging a funeral every other week for several years. 

Which brings us back to that sixteen-year-old lifeguard, standing waist-deep in the California surf, refusing to let go of a drowning boy. He will tell you he was just doing his job. But that is precisely the point. Ordinary heroes rarely see themselves as anything but ordinary.

Scripture has always known this. Hebrews 11 lists a roll call of the faithful – not celebrities, not the powerful, but people who simply would not let go of what they believed, no matter the cost. The chapter closes with one of the most sobering lines in all of Scripture: some were tortured, mocked, flogged, imprisoned, stoned, and put to death, destitute and afflicted and mistreated – “of whom the world was not worthy” (Hebrews 11:38, ESV). These were not the athletes or the pundits of their day. They were farmers and shepherds and mothers and soldiers who simply refused to bend.

Centuries later, John Foxe recorded that same pattern in his Book of Martyrs: ordinary men and women – weavers, servants, wives, tradesmen – who would not renounce their faith even as the flames were lit beneath them. History does not remember most of their names. But it remembers what they did. They stayed true to their beliefs when doing so cost them everything (Foxe, 1563).

That is the thread running from Hacksaw Ridge, to a sixteen-year-old on a California beach, to my own wife quietly caring for two generations at once. Heroism was never about talent or fame. It never was meant to be. It is what happens when an ordinary person, in an ordinary moment, chooses to do the right thing anyway – because someone has to, and because it is right.

So where have all the heroes gone? Nowhere. They are running lifeguard towers, teaching classrooms, caring for aging parents, telling the truth when it isn’t popular, and quietly living out convictions the world will never fully understand. The world was not worthy of the martyrs. It is still not worthy of the ones walking among us now. We would do well to notice them – and, by God’s grace, to become one.

Sources:

Bet-David, P. (2020). Your Next Five Moves: Master the Art of Business Strategy. New York: Gallery Books, an Imprint of Simon and Schuster.

Cambridge Dictionary (n.d.). Hero. In Cambridge Dictionary (dictionary.cambridge.org.). https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/hero.

Celizic, M. (2009, February 10). No athlete deserves to be called a hero. NBC Sports [Web Blog]. http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/29123533/.

Cayer, K. (2025, November 18). Who was Medal of Honor Recipient Desmond Doss? Congressional Medal of Honor Society. https://www.cmohs.org/news-events/medal-of-honor-recipient-profile/who-was-medal-of-honor-recipient-desmond-doss/.

Congress.gov. (2026, January 7). Nick Shirley Congressional Gold Medal Act. https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/6959/text.

Foxe, J. (1563). Foxe’s Book of Martyrs. London: John Day Printer.

Grossman, H. (2026, July 21). Love her or hate her, Sophie Cunningham won’t be ignored. ESPN.com [Sports News Blog]. https://www.espn.com/wnba/story/_/id/49306657/sophie-cunningham-finger-point-indiana-fever-wnba.

Iorfida, C. (2026, July 29). Anthony Fauci again called to testify about COVID-19 to U.S. Senate. CBC New [Web News Blog]. https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/us-senate-fauci-testimony-stakes-9.7288490.

La, L. (2026, April  24). What’s California’s ‘Nick Shirley bill’ really about? CalMatters.org [Web News Blog]. https://calmatters.org/newsletter/nick-shirley-bill-privacy/.

Macias, A.; & DiMella, A.J. (2026, July 28). Mamdani’s ‘ration shop’ grocery plan faces blistering economic critique as opponents blast socialist policy. Fox News [Web News Blog]. https://www.foxnews.com/politics/mamdanis-ration-shop-grocery-plan-faces-blistering-economic-critique-opponents-blast-socialist-policy.

Mobley, R. (2021, April 15). During the pandemic, statistics show safer streets for the region’s children. WAVY 10 News [Web News Blog]. https://www.wavy.com/news/crime/during-the-pandemic-statistics-show-safer-streets-for-the-regions-children/.

Thompson, J. (2026, August 2). WNBA followers enraged over three head coaches’ comments on protecting women’s sports in two days. Fox News: Outkick Sports [Sports News Blog]. https://www.foxnews.com/outkick-sports/wnba-followers-enraged-three-head-coaches-comments-protecting-womens-sports-two-days.

Toohey, G. (2026, July 30). He calls it his duty. America calls this 16-year-old California lifeguard a hero. Los Angeles Times [Web News Blog]. https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2026-07-29/california-teen-lifeguard-rescue-captures-awe.