If you've ever been around alligators, you know that they are scary.  They've remained virtually unchanged for millions of years because they are the perfect ambush hunter.  Alligators are one of the fastest living animals when covering short distances on land.  Their entire body is a giant muscle, they have one of the strongest bite pressures in the world, and they're entirely built to kill.  But one 16-year-old teen, when he saw four people drowning in an alligator-infested Mississippi river, dove in without a single thought for his own safety and rescued all four of them.

On July 3, at 2:30 A.M., on a pitch-dark night, three young women were following their car's GPS when it directed them down a boat ramp and straight into Mississippi's Pascagoula River, which has about 13,000 alligators living in it.  Corion Evans, who was hanging around on the shore with his friends, Karon and Caleb Bradley, saw the car go into the water and reacted instantly.  "I was like, 'I can't let none of these folks die.  They need to get out of the water.'  So I just started getting them.  I wasn't even thinking about nothing else."

The three young women had managed to get out of the car, but at least one of them couldn't swim.  Karon and Caleb had jumped in, too, but Corion clearly took the lead.  He rescued the three young women, bringing them to the shore and safety.

Image: Corion Evans (edited).  YouTube screen grab.

Corion's heroism didn't stop there.  Moss Point police officer Gray Mercer had responded to a 911 call one of the women had managed to make, and he too jumped into the water to rescue the women.  Unfortunately, Officer Mercer couldn't swim, either, and he too began to drown, bouncing out just enough to holler "help."  So the intrepid Corion, who was exhausted by then, "went over there.  I went and I grabbed the police officer and I'm, like, swimming him back until I feel I can walk."

It was an "all's well that ends well" tale thanks to three incredibly brave young men who willingly put strangers' safety ahead of their own well-being.  And therein lies one of the great mysteries of the human spirit.  It's very obvious why we put ourselves in danger to save our children.  That's a biological imperative that has our monkey-brains fire up to save our genetic legacy.  But what makes people put themselves in danger for strangers when there's no direct genetic benefit to doing so?

Whenever I read or see such stories, I'm baffled by this type of altruism — baffled and, of course, deeply impressed and grateful that such people exist.  I get the feeling that Corion, Karon, and Caleb were raised in homes in which human life has value, but that still doesn't explain that absolute, almost mindless, instinct to rescue others.  I'd like to think, too, that theirs was an American response, reflecting the generous spirit that so often animates Americans.

All I can say is that the world is a better place for people like those three young men.  I hope that, moving into the future, life treats them well.  Their instincts are so honorable, and they add value to the world.