"He Pulled Me Back Onto The Boat. We Were Bonded Ever Since” – Nine Actors And Celebs Who Have Saved People's Lives

"'Boy, it’s a good thing this didn’t bite you on the balls man — you would be a dead man.'”

Actors and celebs are many people's heroes, but some of them have taken the term into the literal sense when they've stepped up to save people lives.

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1. Danny DeVito

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Danny is a hero to many of us, but he stepped up to real saviour-level when he saved the life of fellow actor Michael Douglas. Danny revealed that, when filming the 1984 movie Romancing the Stone, he had to step in to remove the poison from a snake bite that his costar had suffered: 

“We were in Mexico in this really rugged kind of place. There was this guy who had a truck with a cage on it and inside the pickup truck, in the bed of the truck, were snakes.”

While Danny was wary of snakes, Michael gladly went up to grab one of the snakes, Danny continued: "Michael grabs the snake. I’m going, ‘Michael, don’t touch the snake! That’s a snake, man. That snake could bite you, man.'" 

Well, he was right, because the snake did bite him. Danny explained how he sprung into action, " I always heard the best thing to do is suck the poison out, right away, so I did. I grabbed his hand and I’m spitting all over the place, and I say, ‘Boy, it’s a good thing this didn’t bite you on the balls man — you would be a dead man.'”

2. Arnold Schwarzenegger

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Arnie has proven his ability to portray an action hero, but he demonstrated his real-life heroics back in 2004, when he, at age 56, rescued a man who appeared to be drowning while holidaying in Hawaii. The actor spoke about the incident, where he saw a man struggling about 400 yards offshore: 

"I realised he was having trouble and I asked him if he was in trouble and he said he had cramps all over his body."

This prompted the actor to retrieve a body board from another swimmer and race through the water to help the man and bring him back to shore: "I set him on the beach and told him to relax a little because he was so out of shape. He told me that for two years he hadn't done any exercise."

A witness said that the man was a "overawed by having just been rescued by the Terminator."

3. John Krasinski

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John's heroics came before his acting career. The actor, living in Costa Rica as a teenager, saved a woman from drowning in the ocean, something that he said changed his life completely: 

“One of the places I went was this amazing beach called Manuel Antonio that I didn’t realise had an insane riptide. While I was swimming there... this Costa Rican girl and an American guy were swimming right next to me, and we were knee-deep. I went underwater for a second, and when I came back up he was screaming at the top of his lungs. Literally in three seconds the girl had been swept 150 yards out."

Thankfully, John's mother was a lifeguard, and thus he had been taught to swim from a very young age. He continued, “In that moment, I didn’t ask anyone. There was no one to help me. I just went out and tried to save her. And then of course when I got out there, I was in a crosscurrent with her."

He went on to explain how the experience was life-altering:

“It was just this survival instinct. It was really weird — like the girl was asking me to let her die. But I got her back. Granted, not everybody needs to have life-or-death experiences, but that changed my entire life. All of a sudden I grew up,” 

4. Vin Diesel

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While Vin Diesel's long-running role in the Fast series saw him tackle many a car wreckage, the actor was forced to step in during a real-life crash in 2002 to help save a family that were stuck in a vehicle after a high-speed crash. 

The actor was reportedly driving his motorcycle in Hollywood when he saw the incident. He rushed to the car, and managed to pull multiple members of the family out and bring them to safety before the vehicle burst info flames. Thankfully, and thanks to Vin, no one was hurt in the incident. 

5. Lawrence Fishburne

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Drowning in quicksand is something that we all grow up fearing, and Lawrence, along with 14-year-old Emilio Estevez realised the real dangers of it. The two were in the Philippines, where Lawrence had a role in Apocalypse Now, which Emilio's father, Martin Sheen, starred in. 

Emilio recalled the incident: “So we were out on this boat together, and we started getting too close to the shore and I said, ‘Well, let me jump out, I’ll push us offshore. I jumped out, and it was like quicksand mud. I was sinking, and I just saw Fishburne just looking at me going, ‘Grab my hand!’ and he pulled me back onto the boat. We were bonded ever since.” 

Martin Sheen didn't find out about the incident until decades later. When he heard, he reached out to Lawrence, as he revealed: “I called Mr. Fishburne to thank him for saving my son’s life.”

6. Heidi Klum

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Heidi and her then-boyfriend, Martin Kirsten had to rush to save Heidi's son and her nannies back in 2013 when they were swimming in the sea. Speaking about the incident, she recalled what happened: 

"We got pulled into the ocean by a big wave. Of course, as a mother, I was very scared for my child and everyone else in the water. Henry is a strong swimmer and was able to swim back to land. We were able to get everyone out safely."

7. Michael Keaton

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Michael has played heroes, villains, the lot, but off-screen he's had to come to the rescue of his friend when he was in danger of choking. He spoke about the incident where he was thankfully able to perform the Heimlich manoeuvre to save his friend: 

“A very good friend of mine, Dennis Dugan actually, we were hanging out at his house and everyone had gone home after this party. We were throwing darts, which we used to do a lot. And then all of the sudden, I look at him and he is really red in the face, and then he’s kind of getting a shade of blue that was concerning. Then he very calmly [points to his throat] and I thought ‘Oh sh***.'”

Luckily, Michael could vaguely remember how to do the manoeuvre, and was able to dislodge the food that was stuck in Dennis' throat. Michael said that Dennis called him up the next day and thanked him for saving his life. 

8. Tom Cruise

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Tom is one of Hollywood's most prominent heroes, and it was actually on the set of Cocktail that he saved the life of costar Elisabeth Schue. Camera operator Bill Bennett revealed the story: 

“We were filming the scene from a helicopter, where Tom and Elisabeth are riding horses along the beach. After a couple takes, the pilot would land the helicopter on the beach, and Tom and Elisabeth would come over to watch the shot recordings and get notes from the director. The only monitor was at my operating position in the left front seat of the helicopter.”

Bill added that the tail rotator at the rear of a helicopter appears almost invisible as it spins, and walking into it will kill you, he then said that, after watching the tape, Elisabeth takes off towards the back of the helicopter.

“Tom is a pilot, rated in both airplanes and helicopters, and instantly saw the danger. He lunged after her, but only was able to grab her legs, tackling her to the ground… At that point she turned white, and he pulled her back towards the front of the helicopter and they walked away. All of us in the helicopter, we’re quite shaken up by the close call, but there was nothing to be said. Tom had, in that instant, truly saved her life.”

9. Harrison Ford

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Harrison is accustomed to acting the hero, and has brought that to the real world on multiple occasions. The actor has used his skills as a pilot and his personal helicopter to successfully rescue stranded hikers in Wyoming. In 2000, he rescued Sarah George, a 20-year-old suffering from dehydration and altitude sickness, and unable to move. 

A year later, he rescued a 13-year-old boy scout who'd been separated from his troop in a forrest near Yellowstone National Park. Now that's a real hero!

What other celebs are real-life heroes? Let us know in the comments below!