Who Is Your Hero?

I just watched 60 Minutes and the hour long telecast featured the gripping account from the miraculous landing of U.S. Airways flight 1549 which touched down in the Hudson River on January 15th. I am sure by now everyone knows the story of events, so I won't go over them. This was the first interview with captain Sullenberger and his crew. The captain's calm, stoic demeanor during the short flight, water landing, rescue and now during the interview were were truly inspiring to me. The closest I have felt to thinking I was going to die was facing a speeding car head on in the back of a tourist van on a narrow road in Turkey. But that adrenaline rush was only momentary. So having no true basis to really understand or empathize with the crew or passengers, I am only left to admire their heroism. Captain Sully is nothing short of a true hero. I know that term is thrown around lightly these days, from sports figures to political figures. I am not here to judge anyone's opinions or even to state my own really. I just feel that in today's turbulent times, Capt. Sully is certainly a hero though for saving 155 people when it seemed like a horrific disaster was inevitable; he remains humble and stoic as he is lauded for his acts. I have been thinking about heroism recently even before seeing the interview. I am reading Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder which recounts the life and career of Dr. Paul Farmer. (thanks for the libro primo) Dr. Farmer grew up in a small town in Florida, and spent parts of his childhood living both in a docked boat and a parked RV/Bus thanks to his poor, stubborn, eccentric father. Dr. Farmer was a prodigy from a young age and before he had graduated from Duke, he had already found his true passion beyond medicine: serving the impoverished people of Hait- the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere. Since I haven't yet finished reading, I am not going to recount the first hundred pages. Safe to say, Paul Farmer is another selfless human being. When he could be making millions as both a first-rate Infectious Disease physician at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. Nevertheless, Farmer forfeited the fame and comforts of medicine in Boston and devoted his life to curing AIDS and TB in rural Haiti.
Stories like Paul Farmer's and Flight 1549 are provocative. They help put in perspective our own hardships and accolades. And not that everyone needs to sell their possessions, donate their life savings to charity or commit all the time to selfless acts and forget their personal gains, but it makes me wonder what my impact, my contribution to this world has been, is and will be. Sure, going into medicine may will say is an honorable choice for my career. Yet, when I think about people who have truly contributed something in their lives, whether they received an ounce of fame or recognition, I stop and think what will I be remembered for, if anything. I am not saying I hope to find the cure for cancer or end starvation in a remote village, but I would how to leave some legacy that shows my efforts to better people's lives.
Enough of my passive preaching, which I hope it is not.

I want to know what heroes you have come across in your life. They can be anyone, famous, or common. Who has influenced your life, and who do you believe has influenced our world?