In 2008, Reader's Digest celebrated 13 ordinary citizens who unexpectedly found themselves confronted with desperate situations--and acted. Their stories are told here. You let us know who inspires you the most by voting in our Hero of the Year poll, and here are the nominees.
"You have to go right now!" That's what Jim Grant recalls shouting through the heat and smoke. Only a few minutes before, he'd been driving to work in San Diego when he passed a burning three-story apartment building. He dialed 911, then pulled a U-turn and went back to see if he could help. With no police or firefighters on the scene yet, Grant ran into the building and checked apartments along an 80-foot corridor. When he kicked in the door of No. 87, the contractor discovered a startled woman in a motorized wheelchair holding an infant. With them was a ten-year-old boy. In all, Grant made three trips carrying them out of the building, the last with police officer Caleb Knobel, who helped drag the disabled and disoriented woman to safety.
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