MY BROTHER HELPED SAVE SOMEONE'S LIFE!

So yesterday afternoon, I was chillin' at home in my pyjamas, studying for this morning's exam (yes, an exam on a Saturday — freaking terrorists) when all of a sudden, I heard terrible, terrible screaming and dogs barking like mad. We have a pretty noisy neighbourhood overall, and dogs often fight while their owners yell at them, but this was different.

So I went outside. I couldn't see anything, but I heard the woman's screams very clearly. My mom insisted that if we dare check it out, we'd better do it in a car so that if dogs are involved, they won't attack us. We have a single-lane driveway and my brother's car was in the back, so I had to call him. He hopped into his car with his two friends to go see what he could see. I ran ahead to check past the corner (which was stupid of me, I admit) and when I saw two women and a little girl gathered on the driveway of a house down the street, I signalled to my brother to drive there. When I confirmed the coast was clear, I ran towards the group.

I have never seen so much blood. It turned out a woman had been attacked by two huge dogs, boerboels I think. The dogs were secured behind the gate by the time we arrived. Their muzzles were dripping red.

Another woman and her daughter had been in the park down the street and rushed towards the screaming as well. Luckily the Park Woman had gotten there in time to help the attacked woman fight off the dogs and get them back into their yard. (I found out later the Park Woman did so by punching the dogs on their noses. Bad ass.) Blood poured out of the attacked woman's coat sleeves. Her clothes were torn and her white Yaris was smudged with red hand prints. She was still in shock, and tried to do something on her phone, but instead she was flooding her belongings with blood.

After seeing the state of things, my brother immediately helped the woman into his car to drive her to the hospital. He didn't even hesitate — and let me tell you, the man is in love with his Ford Focus and he's a clean freak. You'd think he'd cringe at the blood, but he didn't even blink.

His two friends, however, had different reactions. The one was a completely unfazed onlooker. He didn't even attempt to help. He at least accompanied my brother to the hospital, but was really no use. The other friend casually stated that he was gonna head back to my house because he didn't want blood on his clothes and he wanted to finish watching the tennis match. All this while a woman was bleeding out in the street! Not a one of them helped my brother get the woman into the car. They didn't open any doors, didn't attempt to calm anyone down. They just stood there, shrugged and went on with their lives.

I was in a state! All I could think of was to get home, get my car and get to the hospital as fast as I could. If there were a chance I could have been of use, gosh darnit, I was gonna be there! Part of me was wrapped up in the thought that if my brother needed anything, even if it were just a bottled water, he wouldn't be able to go buy anything while he was soaked in blood. Random thought, but there you go.

When I got to the hospital, my brother had already left (understandable since he was drenched) and I got a chance to talk to the Park Woman. She was waiting for someone who knew the attacked woman so she could return the woman's keys. It turned out the attacked woman went to a friend's house to pick up the maid and the dogs reacted badly to the intrusion. The Park Woman bravely took off to help, all while trying to keep her little daughter away. One dog was already back in the yard. The Park Woman punched the other dog as it tried to attack her and it fled. The Park Woman, who was of a small build, told me her nerves were all over the place: she had her daughter to look after and if the attacked woman fainted, she'd have had no way to get her into her car. It was the middle of a Friday afternoon, so nobody in the neighbourhood was really at home, which meant the Park Woman was pretty much on her own.

So basically, my brother was the last piece in the chain of events that got the attacked woman to safety. Had he not shown up, there was a good chance that the woman would have bled out.

After I made sure that the attacked woman was doing okay and that I couldn't be of any use to the Park Woman or her little girl (who was adorable, by the way!), I headed home to check on my brother. And it was over.

After all this, I've learned that it's in crises that a person's true character shows. The Park Woman risked her own safety to save another. My brother loaded a blood bath into his beloved car.

Needless to say, I have pretty much lost respect for those two friends. They were selfish and of absolutely no use. They're still cool guys and they're still fun to hang out with, but I will never count on them in a sticky situation, and I'll probably never take them seriously again either. You gotta take people as they are, and I'm just glad I found out who those two guys really are, because before all this, they were always the ones I had in mind to call in an emergency. Not any more. But we'll probably still play Minecraft come the holidays.

And my brother? When I got home, I found he treated it like another day on the job. He briefly mentioned that he was wearing his favourite hoody when he was helping the woman out, but he was happy to announce our maid had already washed it for him. His car was also no problem, because of the leather seats and all.

So lots of love goes out to the Park Woman and to my brother! Not only did I see two real heroes in action yesterday, I also discovered that a hero is a pretty cool thing to have in the house. Emergencies, come at my bro.

Thanks for reading, guys! I truly hope each of you has a hero in your lives.

Be sure to share your thoughts and experiences in the comments!