Special: Real Life Heroes

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0:59Okay, today, oh, so excited. You're going to witness one of the biggest reunions we've ever done on this show. You know I love a good reunion. I just... But first, today's show is about heroes, and through this... Throughout this show, you're going to be thinking, I wonder if I could have done that. I want you to meet Rachel Sibley. She, last year, in her own home outside of Cleveland now, not Montana, but Cleveland, she was viciously attacked by a seven-foot bear. Scary. Very scary. Wait till you hear this story. The bear weighed over 500 pounds. So if it weren't for the quick actions of a real life hero, she would not be sitting here right now.

1:38Is that true? Yes. Definitely not. I would not be here if it weren't for my daughter. So who do you think saved her from the jaws of that giant bear? A child. A child. Her child. Will Rachel's... Will Rachel's... Rachel's hero please stand up? That's her daughter.

1:56Okay. Well, that is so fantastic. You were saved by your own daughter. Tell us what happened. My daughter was letting the dog out of the house to go outside, and we have a door to the garage. She opened that door and she pushed the button for the garage door to go up. You were taking the trash out? No, taking the dog out. Taking the dog out, okay. And when she opened the garage door, she saw a bear stick its head under the garage door. In Cleveland. Yes. I know, because you're thinking, what's a bear? Oh, Cleveland. Love you, Cleveland. All the folks watching Cleveland. What's a bear doing in Cleveland?

2:35So you open the garage door and there's the bear. And at first you say what? There's a bear. Yeah, I ran back in the house. Yeah. I locked the door. Yeah. Where did the bear come from? It actually came from our neighbors. We, at the time I thought it was a wild bear, but I found out that my neighbor has 902 animals, and he has several exotic animals like bears, mountain lions, lynx, hybrid wolves. And I didn't know, I thought he had little animals like a skunk and raccoon. Because he didn't have a sign. He had a little sign that's about this big at the end of his driveway that said, Baby skunks for sale.

3:11I had no idea that he had 902 animals. Who's buying skunks anyway? But anyway, okay, let's move on with the story. How did the attack start then? So you opened the door and the bear rushed in or what, Daphne? Well, I closed the door and I went back in the house and I locked the door and he broke through the door. He broke through the door. And I got slammed behind it, so he didn't see me. He just saw my mom. Okay. Actually, when he broke the door out of the frame and she was behind the door, so the door knocked me down on the floor, because I had come running in there to see why she's screaming.

3:45There's a bear out there. And the bear knocked me on the floor. and when the bear, he came running in the door and saw me laying on the floor and he just jumped right on top of me. The bear jumped on top of you. Yes. And I couldn't do anything. I had 500 pounds on top of me. I tried to stand up one time and he took his paw and knocked me down right here, back on the floor, and he jumped on me again. And the only thing I, I remember his face coming right from my face and he was growling and I thought, I... So it was a hungry bear. Yes. Okay. And then, so what are you doing, Daphne? Well, at first I freaked out, and I was trying to hit it and punch it and everything.

4:24You were trying to punch the bear in the face? Yes. I punched it in the nose. In the nose. Yes. And so, but the bear isn't interested in you. He's just... No. He didn't hit me at all. ...you're punching the bear in the nose while the bear is on top of your mother. Yes. And he didn't attack me at all. Just my mom. And I'm, like, punching him and jumping on him. And I ran back and I rammed him. You rammed him. You tried to full body force him. Nothing. Well, it got him off for a second so my mom could roll over, so she protected her face. So in the middle of this attack, Daphne made this frantic call to 9 - because you didn't call 9-1-9-1 at first, right?

4:58Mm-mm. She was actually trapped in the living room for a while, and we don't have a phone in our living room. She couldn't get down the hallway to the other part of the house to call. Okay, so you made this frantic call to 9-1-1. 9-1-1, what is your emergency? The bear is in my house and my mom is being attacked. The bear is in your house? It's in my house. All right, where is it right now? It's in my living room. It's on top of it. We'll let it go. It's on top of your husband? On top of my mom. On top of your mom? Yes.

5:31Okay, what is your name? Daphne. Daphne. How old are you? I'm 16. Okay, all right. Hello, Wade? Mom, where's the... I have a 911 call. It's just... Mom, can I shoot it? Well, I don't know if anybody's there that can't shoot it. Okay, stand on to our will. I'm on your way. Okay, what's wrong? What's going on, Remy? I'm on your way. I'm going to call my neighbor and have him shoot it. Yes, we're going to get somebody there to shoot it. I'm on your way. Oh, okay, can you stand the line with me? No, I've got to call the neighbor so they can come shoot it. Did it come out? It's still in your face. It's still in your face.

6:10She's moving. OK. All right. Call your neighbor and get somebody to shoot it. Call me right now. It's not funny. It's not funny, man. Oh, my goodness. No. No. Of course this is not funny at all. It's really horrible because I know when you're hearing this for the first time, but I'm just thinking about that 911 call, the operator, because normally they're so calm. But I'm sure they've not had that kind of call before. Right. There's a bear at first. It's like, are you kidding? And how old are you? So Daphne couldn't reach the neighbors, so she had to come up with another plan to save her mom. What was that?

6:44I tried to find a stun gun, but there were no batteries for it. And then I tried to find a knife, but there wasn't one big enough. And then I tried to remember the combination of the gun safe, but we were both so, like, frantic we couldn't think of it. Yeah. So then I went to the refrigerator and I got meat out of the refrigerator. What kind of meat? First I got a hamburger, but I didn't want the hamburger because it was frozen. and then I went back and got Oscar Mayer turkey.

7:12That Oscar Mayer wiener came in handy. So you went back and gave it lunch meat? Mm-hmm. How much lunch meat did you have in there? For a bear? Enough for a bear? Well, it was like, it wasn't paying attention to it at first, so I had to take it right up to it. And I put it up to his face, and he smelled it, and then I made him follow me into the kitchen. And... Y 'all are good. Y 'all are... So you're like this with the bear? following me into the kitchen? Wow. And he, you could tell he was a pet then, because at first we thought he was wild, but you could tell he was a pet because he was begging for it.

7:45He wasn't just gonna, he wasn't just trying to take it. But I was scared he was gonna try and take it, so I opened up the refrigerator and I put the door in between us, so I was, like, inside the refrigerator holding the meat over the door. And my mom was passed out, so I couldn't. Because by this time he'd torn your ear off. Yes, he, um, he, he tore my ear off. He tore this whole back part of my head. I had a hole in my back, like this big, all the way to my lung. And I had several holes over here that you could put your whole hand in. Oh. Both of...I had ribs broken on both sides. Because they put your ear back on?

8:22Yes. They...I had reconstructive surgery, and you can barely tell that... That's really excellent. Excellent. But he had torn your ear off? It was hanging by one little piece of skin. Oh. And I actually lost my hearing for three months. And I did get that back. And I read that you had a hole so big in your back that you could put a fist to it, because he actually just took a bite out of your back. When my husband came to the emergency room, he actually had to run out of the room because he said he could put both his hands inside my back. So Rachel says that if anyone but Daphne had been with her that day, she believed she would be dead.

8:56Why? I believe I definitely would not be alive if anyone else had been there. She was born with a special love for animals. Her first word was cat. And ever since she was little, she's just gone outside and caught wildly. And she'll catch a snake in the backyard. I mean, she's not your typical girl. And so she doesn't have a fear. Eww. Eww. Yeah, she doesn't have that fear. No, and she wasn't afraid. But you were afraid of that bear that day, weren't you? She was freaking out for a while. Yeah. And then did you find a calm? Did you obviously were able to find... Because I found a way to control it.

9:28Yeah. Well, you're a hero, that's for sure. Oh, we're talking to real-life heroes today, and we're asking this question whether or not you have it in you to save a life. When I heard your story, I know I don't have what your hero had to do it. I know I don't have it. I don't have it. And so, I don't have it, God. I don't have it. Listen to this actual 911 call from a young girl who's trapped in a car that's fallen to the water. This would be the young girl that was trapped in the car, and the car is sinking fast. I'm in Waikiki Yacht Club and we're sinking in the car and I can't open the door.

10:07Okay, where are you? In Waikiki Yacht Club. At the Yacht Club? Yeah, and the water... I'm sorry, what is your problem? What is happening? I'm in the car and I can't open the door and the water's coming in and we're sinking. No, I don't want to drown. Waikiki Yacht Club. Yes. OK, we're sending some trucks. Please hurry.

10:38Girl. Can you open the window? Hello? Hello? I want to say, if I could open the window, I wouldn't be calling you. OK, this is Alena, who was miraculously saved that day. It was her voice that you just heard on that tape. She was inside the car with her grandfather when he accidentally drove into the water. Alena's cell phone connection cut out just seconds before that car became completely submerged. So what happened when the car filled with water? Tell us what happened. How did you... your grandfather drive into the water? Well, it was actually an accident because he thought the car was in reverse, and so he was trying to reverse out of a parking stall, but the car was actually in drive, and so he drove straight into the water.

11:27Oh. And the car sank fast. Mm-hmm. Yes. So when you made that call, how were you...how far under the water were you? When I made that call, the front of the car was already maybe up to my waist, filled with water. And so... How did you find your cell phone? Was it in your hand? It was...I was holding it, because I had just gotten off the phone with my mom. Uh-huh. Okay. Good. Because I'm thinking, how do you find your cell phone in the sinking car? Because you remember how it felt when you... So the car starts to sink and... And... It goes further and further into the water. Yeah. And so my grandfather told me to move to the back seat because it hadn't...the back seat was still not completely underwater.

12:07So you're trying to find air pockets in the car. And so when the water was completely filled up, I remember at the back seat towards the roof, there was a little pocket of air. And so I tried taking, like, a big breath. And I remember I got breath, air the first time and water the second. And then I passed out. Yeah. Do you remember your, your, your lungs feeling with water? Yeah. Do you remember that sensation, that drowning sensation? I felt like I was suffocating and I kind of like, I guess, prayed that it wouldn't hurt too much, you know? Do you remember it? Yeah. Yeah. And did it hurt? It, for a little while, I, I don't know, it was really hard for me.

12:50and then after that, I don't remember anything. I heard you said your body just got so tired. Yeah. So any hope for Alena and her grandfather's survival was running out, as you can imagine, from hearing that story, when suddenly a stranger, a stranger jumps in the water. That stranger turned hero is Larry Cummins. Come on up here, Larry.

13:15Whoo-hoo!

13:19What you did. Okay, so you'd heard about the car and you jumped in the water. Yeah. I heard about the car and I jumped into the water and we couldn't see the car. So we weren't... The water was very dark. Very dark. And we weren't even sure if the car was there. So, of course, we didn't see any wet footprints, anybody getting out of the water. So we just had to double check and make sure. How did you even know the car was there? Where... Well, we didn't know for sure that the car was there. All we saw was a bunch of bubbles coming up and maybe some trash floating in the water. Yeah. Okay. So you jump into that dirty water.

13:53And tell me, what did you do? Well, I jumped into the dirty water, and I didn't even know the car was there until I swam down, and I basically felt the car. You felt it, because you can't see. Couldn't see the car. Yeah. Okay. You felt the car. And what are you feeling around, trying to find the doors? Yes. And I tried to open the front door, and, of course, it was locked. So I came back up and, you know, I yelled to my friend, Rick Kwiatkowski. I said, hey, get some rocks or something so we can break these windows because the car is here. And then I went back down to the back door, the passenger side back door.

14:25Tried to open that one. It wouldn't open. It was locked also. So I came back up and I yelled to him. I said, hey, these are all locked. And so I swam around to the other side and I went back down to the driver's side rear door. That was locked too. And I came back up. The doors are locked. So far, three doors are locked. Yeah. And then, of course, I tried the driver's side door. So you keep coming back up to get more air? That's correct. Yeah. So I get up to the driver's side door, and I push on it, and you could feel it click. So I knew it was unlocked. So I just kept pulling on it, pulling on it until finally it opened up.

14:57Then after... This time, the whole car is under water, so you don't see anybody. I couldn't see anybody. I couldn't even see the car. So everything I was doing was by feel. So everything was just like, okay, open up the door. I figure somebody's gonna be sitting right here in the front seat. And nobody was there. Nobody's there. Okay. So what'd you do? I made several attempts. I kept diving further and further inside the car. And then on my last attempt as I was coming out, I said, well, okay, I didn't see anybody in the front seat, so I tried to sweep across the back seat as much, you know. And that's when I felt Elena.

15:26I could feel her hair. So I just grabbed ahold of her hair. And pulled her out by the hair. And I started pulling her out. And, of course, she wasn't moving or anything. That is incredible. So you pull her out and? I pull her out and I swim her, we surfaced and we end up going over to the boat where my friend Rick was at. And we couldn't get her out of the water. Of course she wasn't moving or anything. So he's yelling, can somebody help us? Somebody please help us because we couldn't get her out of the water. So I tell him, I said put her back in the water and we'll swim over to the finger and it'll be easier.

15:57It's closer to the water. We can get her out of the water. Over to the finger? To the finger where the piers are at. Okay, good. So... So we lift her out, and two other people come over to help get her out of the water. And obviously she was revived, but sadly, Elena's grandfather did not survive. He was pulled from the water by a firefighter and revived at the scene, but died shortly afterwards. Died shortly afterwards. What do you want to say to Larry? I want to say that, Larry, you are my hero. And I think that you're a person that would risk your life, basically, to save a stranger. And that's really admirable.

16:40Yeah. And you're strong and quick-thinking. And without you, I think it could have turned out a lot differently. Yeah. Thank you. That's for sure. Thank you both. Thank you. Larry!

16:55Sometimes a hero is born in just the blink of an eye for a Nashville mom, like so many of you out there, Amy Hawkins. That's exactly what happened. One ordinary day, she looked out our window. I was at work, and the day the tornado hit, I called Amy, and she cut me off. She goes, I know it's here. Gotta go. Bye. I could hear the panic in her voice. My mom saw the storm, and she was scared. It just sounded like a big train coming our way. Then we went down to the basement. And a lot of flicks fell on us. She hovered over us just like that. We buried our heads on the, like this. Amy used her body as a shield to protect her two sons as the tornado ripped through the Hawkins home.

17:45When we got up there, the house had been just scoured right off the face of the earth. It was completely gone. I saw a cold little head sticking out of the brick. and that's where they were in the northeast corner, covered with brick. Emergency services. Yes, ma 'am. We've got two hurt kids and a hurt mother, and the whole house is gone. The whole house is destroyed. The whole house is gone? Yeah. I think Ms. Hawkins is a hero due to the fact that she did shelter her children. Had she not done so, I think that the kids probably would have been killed. My mom saved me and my brother's lives, and she is the biggest hero that I know.

18:22She sure is. Amy's sons. She sure is. Because Amy shielded her sons, literally covered them with her own body, they suffered only minor injuries because of that split-second decision. And though she survived, Amy broke her back and is now paralyzed from the waist down. Welcome Hero Mom, Amy Austin. We're heroes. She's a hero. Hero Mom.

18:55Her husband, Jared, who's a firefighter, and their two sons, seven-year-old Jer. I told him he's the only Jer I ever met. And four-year-old Cole. So did just your instincts kick in or...? Yeah, just I would call it motherly instincts. Just all animals have it. Mm-hmm. They know what to do to protect their children. So just they took over and in the Call of Duty, just run downstairs and hover over them so that they wouldn't... When you were on the phone with Jared and you, and he said on the tape there that he could sense that you knew the storm was, it was there. Right. And Jer said on the tape it felt like a freight train.

19:32Everybody who's ever been near a tornado says it does, it sounds like a freight train. Did it? Yes. Like a freight train. Sounds just like a train. Coming down the tracks. Right. Yeah. And so were you afraid? Look, look at Cole doing choo-choo. Yeah. Were you, were you very afraid? Somewhat. And I also believe I didn't have time to be afraid. I didn't have time. I just had to do what I needed to do. I know that I was probably reciting the Lord's Prayer over and over again, because I had a dream about that, about what I did during the tornado. Last year, heroic mom Amy Hawkins used her body to shield her two sons from a deadly tornado.

20:12She literally covered her body over theirs. The boys made it through with only minor injuries, but Amy was left paralyzed from her waist down, is now adjusting to life in a wheelchair. My biggest challenges are just getting ready in the morning. The showering. It's just trying to put your socks and shoes on. The little things can be difficult. When you can't feel anything on the bottom of your feet, if you've got the shoe on right or not, you really have to push. you can get off balance really easily. If you're going for the water jug that's full, you have to do everything you can not to spill it.

20:56Keeping the house clean, it takes a lot longer to do that. Cole, can you come here for a minute? I need your help so I can vacuum. Can you just put your foot there for me? Thank you. And also, I don't have as much energy as I did before. But how are you adjusting, Amy? I'm adjusting. I am determined to do whatever I can to make life as normal as possible. So, you know, I'm doing the normal mom things. I'm a homeroom mom, a team mom for the baseball team. Yeah. Team mom. Okay. And I help out my son's school. Wonderful. So... Yeah. And you had a driving lesson. Yes. And I took my first driving lesson, and pretty soon we're going to be converting the car over so that I can drive it around town.

21:48Wow. And I heard you tell our producers that... Interesting. When sometimes disaster, tragedy, crises happen, a lot of people grow from it in such a way that they appreciate life more. And I heard that that's what you said to our producers. Right. I do. I appreciate life a lot more. I...the simplest things. I come to realize that I sleep with the one shade open, So when the sun rises, I like to... I have to watch it, you know, the sunrise. Yeah. And, you know, I'll just sit back and, I think, watch the kids play a little more. Yeah. You pay attention to things more. Exactly. Because you know how quickly things can just go.

22:31Right. Yeah. Well, thank you. You're our hero. You're a hero to every mother out there who would have done the same thing... Thank you. ...to protect her children. Yes. Your mom's a hero. Your mom's a hero. Thanks, Amy. Thanks, Jared. Thanks, Jared. Jared, you're gonna really like this part. Watch this, okay? So I want you to look behind me at some of the most courageous real-life heroes in this country. We've seen a few already. It doesn't matter if you're for or against the war in Iraq. There is one thing that we really can all agree on, I think, is that we support the troops. We support the troops.