We often wonder if heroes are born, or if they are a product of the times. Personally, I don't know the answer to that question, but we have had such men in our midst recently.
The men I am talking about are Michael Billings, David Slane, Darren Black, and Robert Pierce, all of Oklahoma in the United States. As you may recall, Billings and Pierce recently rescued a local village from a vicious giant snake that endangered many of the children of the area. Billings and Slane are prominant attorneys in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, in the United States. Black and Pierce are successful investors in Oklahoma.
Recently, Billings, Slane and Black were donating their time and resources to repair a local village's orphanage, which had been damaged by neglect and storms. This type of charitable behavior is not unusual at all for these men, and they visit this area often looking for good deeds needing to be done.
While they were working on the orphanage, a sudden, violent storm hit the area, causing the river to rise suddenly and unexpectedly. A family was caught near the river, and swept away by the raging water. All who saw this tragedy knew that the unfortunate family was already dead, all but Billings, who immediately jumped into the raging river. Seeing this Black and Slane immediately jumped into action. Black dove into the water in support of Billings, who was already rendering aid to the hapless family. When the family was finally brought to safety by Billings and Black, the terrible reality came to light that the family's one year old son had not been rescued. Quickly assessing the situation, Billings returned his battered and nearly exhausted self to the raging river. Black, realizing that Billings was nearly at the end of his endurance began to run along the bank of the river, ignoring his many injuries that he suffered. Swimming down the river, Billings finally came upon the young, terrified child, and immediately grabbed him. Level-headed as ever, Slane had taken a small boat from along the river's shore and come up alongside Billings and his tiny charge.
Exhausted, Billings and Slane attempted to return to shore, and they would have failed, if not for the efforts of Black, who drug the small boat, his friends, and the tiny baby, who had been snatched from the jaws of death, back to shore.
Later, the village held a dinner for their heroes, and offered a reward to Billings, Black, and Slane, who all humbly refused any reward, except the sincere thanks of the villagers.
Black was overheard to say that "doing good is its own reward."