1 . In a heart-pounding display of courage and quick thinking, a 65-year-old crane operator became an unexpected hero as he rescued a man trapped on top of a towering building engulfed in flames.

Glen Edwards, a crane operator from Egham, was expressing his gratitude after a tense rescue operation in Reading last Thursday. Edwards found himself in a challenging situation as he navigated circling winds to save a man trapped by smoke and flames on a building. The dramatic rescue unfolded amid thick black smoke, making visibility nearly impossible

When the alarm sounded, Edwards, who had a concrete skip on his crane, wasted no time the moment he spotted the distressed man waving his coat. Employing his experience and knowledge of the area, Edwards attached a metal cage to the crane, carefully considering his options for the rescue. However, the challenging conditions, with smoke sheltering his view, added an extra layer of difficulty to the operation.

With a colleague providing guidance and a concerned crowd watching from below, Edwards skillfully operated the crane to rescue the man. The onlookers erupted in cheers and applause as the man was safely lifted to the ground.

Reflecting on the intense experience, Edwards remarked, “It seemed to pass a long time until the man got inside. The adrenaline (肾上腺素) was pumping.” He admitted to experiencing shaking after the rescue, emphasizing the gravity of the situation.

Despite the successful operation, Edwards is yet to meet the man he saved, humorously noting, “He’s got to take me across the road for a drink!”

The heartwarming part of this story is the overwhelming support Edwards has received from well-wishers. A fund-raising page was set up to “buy Edwards a beer as a sign of gratitude,” initially aiming for £5,000 but now standing at an impressive ₤9,100. The community’s response has left Edwards deeply moved. He stated, “It means a lot; some of the comments have been absolutely fantastic.”

2 . Life can change in the blink of an eye. For Bridgette Ponson, one of those _________ took place in the parking lot of her workplace, Layton Christian Academy. While she was in the parking lot with her 2-year-old boy and 3-year-old girl, a car _________ them. This left the mother and her kids _________ beneath the car.

_________, the driver wasn’t going very fast when she hit them. At that moment, she was blinded by the sun — this is the suspected _________ of the accident. However, as soon as she _________ what had happened, she jumped out of the car to help. Plus, she wasn’t the only one who came to _________ Bridgette and her kids.

Soon, Chris Crowder, CEO of the school, became _________ of the accident. Without _________, he rallied (召集) together a group of students to help.

“It was a split second,” Chris recalls. “I immediately just ran into the classroom building because I knew I had to get a lot of people to lift this car. We have about 220 __________ kids and over 300 international kids at the school. They just __________ me shout. All these kids from different countries just came __________ out and lifted it up.”

A whole group of kids could be seen working together to lift the car enough for Mom and her kids to get __________. The 2-year-old was flown to Primary Children’s Hospital while the 3-year-old and Mom were taken by ambulance to the hospital. Although Bridgette and her kids suffered from __________, all three of them are __________ to make complete recoveries.

4 . Dung the rush hour in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, White was driving home when he saw a car on the opposite side of the street. It was easy to _________, since it was moving from side to side. As the car drew closer, White saw the ___________: The driver appeared to be asleep. Pretty soon, an accident was _________ to happen, White thought.

White made a U-turn to the same _________ as the car, but there were four cars separating them. _________, White pulled his car over, jumped out and raced up the sidewalk. The car was going 10 to 15 miles per hour, White _________. So he ran around to the driver’s side. White caught the frame of the open window and _________. The man in the car, 64-year-old Todd, was conscious enough to be surprised by the _________ of a stranger by his car window.

White worked quickly. He forced the car into a _________ stop and stepped outside the car. Then White asked Todd if he was OK. “No,” he replied. Todd was __________ facing dangerously low blood sugar.

A police officer went to the __________, and an ambulance soon arrived, which took Todd to a hospital. The doctors ____________ that, if his blood sugar had gone much lower, he could have fallen unconscious.

White’s actions weren’t __________ for him. He and his mother run a nonprofit organization. But White __________ that jumping into a moving car to prevent a(n) __________ was new. “It took me a couple of days to calm down,” he says.

6 . Brendon Birt accidentally took a wrong turn down a street in Red Oak, Iowa. But it turned out it was exactly where he was _________! As he drove down the road, he saw heavy smoke from a family’s home. He knew the home was on fire. Without thinking, he stopped his car, called 911 and ran towards the _________ Brendon ran up and saw most of the downstairs was already full of _________. “I just believed there had to be someone _________ inside the house because it was so late at night,” Brendon said. “I knew I had to act _________. Every second that was going by was just getting worse.” He _________ to the side of the home and started pounding on the windows with _________, calling for the people to get out.

The homeowner, Tender Lehman, was _________ that night but her three younger children ages 8, 14, and 17 were inside being looked after by her _________ son, Bryce Harrison, 22. No smoke alarms __________, so if it weren’t for Brendon’s warning, they might not have ever __________ Brendon was relieved (放心) when he saw the four children run out of the __________ to safety. Days later, Tender came home and went to see the man who __________ all four of her children. “I’m so __________,” Tender said. “My kids wouldn’t have __________ it, without your kind action.”

7 . A group of Georgia high school football players are being praised as heroes. They_________ into action last week to save a woman following a car crash.

The students were on their way to school on Friday morning when they saw the crash_________ in front of their school. The football players_________helped the woman driver escape by tearing open her door as smoke and petrol poured from her badly damaged vehicle.

Luis Goya,a math teacher at the high school, praised the boys’_________on the Internet detailing the crash.“The football players in my school really_________today,”Goya wrote in his post.“They went above and beyond to help.”People could know the_________story from the teacher’s post. The football players_________a loud bang and instantly knew it was going to be a bad_________. They quickly took action. They began their attempts to pull the_________from her car without hesitation. The door was jammed and in__________shape. They literally started __________ their strength to pry(掰开)the door open，so that the lady could be__________ .

Police said the lady was taken to the__________with cuts and bruises. She was expected to be okay. The school football team praised the players. They said that they couldn’t be prouder of the   __________act and showing the good characteristics of their team. Are the players __________?No doubt they are to that woman and her family.

9 . Chase Poust is a 7-year-old boy. He and his dad Steven, and his 4-year-old sister, Abigail were out for a family boating trip on Florida’s St. Johns River near Mandarin Point. Chase and Abigail were swimming at the back end of the anchored boat while Steven was on deck (甲板) fishing.

It was an idyllic (悠闲的) outing — until a strong wave came. It was too strong for Abigail to hold onto the boat. Instantly realizing his sister would be swept away, Chase let go of the boat as well to try and reach her.

Steven jumped into the water but after realizing he couldn’t keep up with both kids, he was faced with a hard decision. “I told them I loved them because I wasn’t sure what’s going to happen,” Steven told News-4 JAX. “I tried to stick with both of them. I wore myself out. She drifted away from me.”

Directing Chase to swim to shore for help, Steven stayed behind, keeping as close as he could to Abigail as the life-vest that was keeping her above the waves floated further and further from his reach.

It was a tough go for the 7-year-old, but rather than attempting to swim all out, Chase wisely paced himself. Stopping to float or dog paddle when he was tired, he’d rest and then set off again. It took Chase an hour to reach the shore. Once on solid ground, he ran to the nearest house and called for help.

Rescuers arrived soon to search for Steven and Abigail. Miraculously, the two were found and rescued about an hour later-more than a mile away from the family’s abandoned boat.