Nobody Heroes

The Economist Who Came Up With a Cure for a Disease That Baffled Scientists. Augusto Odone was an economist working for the World Bank with little to no medical training. His heroics would result in having a movie made about him and his family containing large doses of Nick Nolte. But impossibly, Augusto made a discovery: The damage ALD caused in his son came from a buildup of long chain fatty acids in the blood. Years of no medical experience whatsoever told him that if he could somehow stop this from happening, it might help Lorenzo. He swiftly organized a medical conference, with doctors this time, to discuss his research, and came away with the exact thing he'd been looking for: an oil capable of destroying long chain fatty acids. His son live for 20 more years then the doctors had excepted.

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The Construction Worker Who Dove Under a Subway to Save a Man. Wesley Autrey was a 50-year-old construction worker and Navy veteran living in New York City. Autrey was waiting on the subway platform with his kids when a man named Cameron Hollopeter fell to the floor and began convulsing. Autrey and two other bystanders went to Hollopeter's aid and brought him back to his feet ; which is exactly what you don't want to do. Sure enough, Hollopeter took a few steps and fell right off the platform and onto the tracks below just as the train started to roll in, setting the scene for a spectacular obituary. With no real plan in mind, since the seconds it would take to develop a plan would be just enough time for Hollopeter to be erased by the train, Autrey jumped onto the tracks, not wanting his two daughters to witness the horrific squishing of a human being through a train. At first, he tried moving Hollopeter back onto the platform, but the man's convulsing hadn't stopped, making him impossible to lift out of harm's way in time. Luckily, a narrow trench in the center of the rails caught Autrey's eye, where he shoved the two of them. Fortunately the train stopped two inches in front of them and everyone was safe.

Read more: http://www.cracked.com/article_19766_6-nobodies-who-turned-into-superheroes-without-warning.html#ixzz2Q1xQUp6r