Heroes are among us, but how significant is their impact? James Harrison or Henrietta Lacks donated cells and blood for medical research and saved thousands of lives. They didn’t think twice before doing something for the greater good of other people. Russia disgraced one of their soldiers after he defied his captain’s orders and refused to start WWIII. Their stories are hidden under rugs or behind doors when instead they should be shared. These are the unsung heroes, the heroes who have risked their lives and saved people without the world knowing.

1. When James Harrison found out he had an unusual plasma composition in his blood that could treat Rhesus disease, he made an effort to donate blood for the rest of his life. He has made over 1,000 donations which are estimated to have saved over two million lives.
Born and raised in Australia, James decided to donate blood after undergoing a surgery at the age of 14 which required 13 liters of blood. Finding out that he had rare antibodies which fought and prevented Rhesus disease, James began donating as much blood as possible. He donated blood for 57 years and saved 2.4 million babies. On average, one in ten pregnant women used his blood to prevent the disease.

2. Vasili Arkhipov, a senior officer on a Soviet submarine, refused his captain’s orders to launch a nuclear torpedo at U.S. warships in October 1962, perhaps preventing WWIII.
Arkhipov, second in command of four Soviet submarines, defied and vetoed his captain’s orders. He refused to fire a nuclear torpedo at U.S. warships in Cuba without sufficient information. Moscow was unable to contact the crew for days leaving them no update on the current situation. Arkhipov decided they needed to contact headquarters and surfaced the submarine. Vasili didn’t know of the U.S. advances towards Cuba at the time. The U.S. administered a naval blockade and informed the Soviets in Moscow of some new drills. They required any submarines in the area to surface. Moscow was unable to reach submarines due to depth. When Vasili refused his captain’s orders, he saved the entire world from entering WWIII. Russia saw him as a coward and traitor, but his wife and others saw him as a hero. He averted another major war and saved millions of lives.

3. Nils Bohlin saved millions of lives with his invention of the modern, three-point safety seat belt while working at Volvo. The patent was given away for free in order to reduce costs. Bohlin’s invention saves about 11,000 lives in the U.S. alone each year.
Bohlin, a Swedish inventor, created the modern seatbelt while working at Volvo. He introduced the invention in 1959 to his company which issued the first patent. Bohlin conducted a study on the safety of the device using 28,000 accidents. The results proved occupants wearing the seat belt didn’t suffer fatalities nearly as often as those without. His device became required in all vehicles in the United States and is estimated to save about 11,000 lives in the U.S. alone each year. Bohlin’s invention has been used for vehicles, airplanes, and buses and reduced fatalities in accidents by almost 50% according to a study in the United States.

4. The geochemist Clair Patterson who used lead isotopic data to determine the Earth’s age also spent decades fighting the industrial use of lead. His efforts helped reduce lead levels in the blood of American workers by approximately 80% by the late 1990s.
During Clair’s studies on the Earth’s age, he found numerous samples contaminated with high amounts of lead. His interest peaked, Clair obtained samples from Greenland and Antarctica for further studies. Clair noticed significant increases in lead levels across the world since its use in fuel. In 1965, Clair forced the issue into the public domain and fought gasoline industries to reduce their high lead content. Clair’s forward thinking led to his exclusion from research councils and organizations. They knew his research could prove harmful to business finances. Despite barriers, Patterson persuaded the U.S. to mandate the use of unleaded gasoline in all new cars from 1975 onward. This reduced lead contamination significantly. Patterson didn’t stop at the mandate. He continued to fight other industries with high amounts of lead. Clair’s efforts reduced lead levels in the blood of approximately 80% of Americans by the late 1990s.

Spreads mat,

5. Polish doctor Eugene Lazowski saved 8,000 Jews during the Holocaust by injecting dead typhus cells into them. This allowed them to test positive for typhus despite being healthy. Germans were afraid of the highly contagious disease and refused to deport them to concentration camps.
After serving in the Polish Army, Lazowski went to live in Rozwadow where he met his friend Dr. Stanislaw Matulewicz. Matulewicz created a way to inject dead typhus cells into people without side effects and still test positive for the disease. Eugene took this discovery and injected Jews in the Rozwadow area. Germans were terrified of this disease and quarantined the entire town. Stanislaw and Eugene continued inoculating other villages in the areas of Rozwadow and Zbydniow. Eugene saved at least 8,000 Polish Jews from concentrations camps by frightening Germans with the deadly typhus disease.

6. Neerja Bhanot, a 22-year-old air hostess, helped hide 41 American passports aboard a hijacked plane. She helped passengers escape and died shielding three children from gunfire. Neerja was posthumously awarded bravery medals in India, Pakistan, and the United States.
Neerja was a young hostess for Pan American Flight 73 which was flying from India to the United States. She noticed hijackers aboard the plane and immediately alerted the cockpit crew. They escaped through a hatch while the terrorists remained aboard. The four terrorists targeted Americans aboard the plane and intended to fly to Cyprus to free their Palestinian brothers. Neerja secretly gathered the 41 Americans’ passports and hid them so the terrorists wouldn’t be able to tell the people apart. The terrorist’s first victim was an American man. They shot him in the head and tossed him out of the plane. Small bombs started going off and the terrorists shot at the other passengers. Neerja helped people escape through an exit hatch. Three children were about to exit the hatch when the terrorists noticed her. Neerja shielded the children and was shot dead while saving their lives. One of the children later went on and became a pilot because he admired her so much. Neerja was posthumously awarded bravery medals in Pakistan, India, and the United States. She became the first and youngest woman to receive the Ashoka Chakra Award in India for her bravery.

7. Three men known as the Chernobyl “Suicide Squad” volunteered for a suicide mission days after the Chernobyl disaster. They waded through water underneath a leaking reactor to release the safety valves and prevent a chain reaction of nuclear explosions. They saved 50% of Europe from being wiped out.
Three plant workers, known as the Chernobyl “Suicide Squad,” volunteered to go beneath the reactors to release the valves. The molten reactor core was coming ever closer to the water source. The connection of the two would cause a chain reaction of reactor explosions destroying the entire power station. Suited up in minimal protection from radiation, the men waded through knee-high water and intense heat to open the valves. They saved 50% of Europe from being wiped out and from being rendered uninhabitable for 500,000 years.

8. Despite immense pressure from pharmaceutical companies, Dr. Frances Kelsey refused to approve thalidomide for morning sickness in the United States. Her disapproval saved a whole generation of children from death and deformities.

Dr. Kelsey, one of seven physicians reviewing drugs for the FDA, denied the approval of thalidomide. The drug caused unknown side effects, specifically to the nervous system. Kelsey required further studies into the side effects of the drug before any further thought of approval. Pharmaceutical companies pressured Kelsey. They stated pregnant women needed the drug for treatment of morning sickness. Other countries, such as Canada and select European countries, approved the drug. Pharmaceutical companies in the U.S. thought it would be an instant success. They finally accepted her decision when cases of defected children arose in Europe. Children were born with webbed fingers and feet, or missing arms and legs. Dr. Kelsey’s refusal to approve the drug saved a generation and thousands of children in America. She was the second woman to receive the President’s Award for Distinguished Federal Civilian Service.

9. Aki Ra, a former child soldier in Cambodia, risked his life to destroy and remove landmines with no more than a knife, hoe, and stick. He saved thousands of lives and helped people regain valuable land. Aki also adopted children injured by landmines and those suffering from polio or HIV.

Aki Ra, an orphaned child, enlisted in the army at a young age. After serving in the military, Ra dedicated his life to clearing thousands of landmines in the area around his home in Cambodia. Small villages, overlooked by the UN, benefited from his services. The disarmed landmines uncovered filled Ra’s house which he turned into a museum and charged $1 for admission to help fund his project and help adopt the landmine’s young victims. While traveling to disarm landmines, Ra adopted and saved 29 young landmine victims which stayed in his small Cambodia Landmine Museum Relief Center. Ra’s efforts were halted in 2001 and 2006 when he was jailed for disarming landmines without a certification. This didn’t stop the young man and inspired him to travel to London where he gained his certification. Ra was then able to legally continue disarming landmines in Cambodia. In the first year of his certification, Ra helped put over 2,400 people back on their land.

And lastly....

10. Without knowing it, Henrietta Lacks, a poor woman, donated her cells to science. Her cells became the first “immortal cells” to be kept alive for medical use and used for everything from creating the polio vaccine to cloning.

Henrietta, born to a poor family in Virginia, suffered from cervical cancer and sought medical attention at a hospital in Maryland. Without Henrietta’s knowledge, the medical staff took samples of her cancerous cells and used them for medical research. Henrietta’s cells, known as “HeLa,” reproduced rapidly and lasted a long time. Medical researchers used these cells to make new discoveries and advances in cancer, cloning, and gene mapping. Henrietta’s cells helped create the polio vaccine which saved thousands of lives. Scientists around the world sought after her cells. Henrietta’s cells were the first mass produced cells sold globally. The demand for her cells grew. Researchers took more samples from her body while it lay in the autopsy facility after her death in 1951. Without knowing it, Henrietta helped medical research and saved thousands of lives with her contribution to the polio vaccine.

Wow informative.
Thanks op.

Finally, we are here...Weldone to them all...

I love reading threads like dis

That pharmaceutical companies own though. Wicked people.