Five stories, three minutes, no doom.

His CPR students saved their teacher.

Karl Arps spent 19 years teaching EMTs to save lives. Last month, mid-CPR lesson, his heart stopped. His students didn't panic. They did exactly what he'd taught them: one started compressions, another grabbed the AED, a third called 911. Arps, 60, was back teaching within weeks. He's since added one thing to his curriculum: a personal thank-you to every class, delivered standing.

“I'm alive because they listened.”
Karl Arps, EMT instructor

Travis heard his mother laugh for the first time.

The FDA approved the first gene therapy to restore hearing for people born deaf, a landmark for the field. In trials of 20 patients, 80% gained significant hearing, and 42% ended up with normal hearing, including whispers. Sierra Smith, of East Greenbush, N.Y., enrolled her son Travis after a profound-deafness diagnosis at birth. Three months after treatment, she laughed in the car. He startled. It was the first time he'd heard her voice.

“That was like the most surreal moment a mother can feel when your son first hears your voice.”
Sierra Smith, mother of Travis Smith

Hans almost drowned saving his goldendoodle.

Hans Nagrath was running along the Charles in Boston when his two-year-old goldendoodle, Benny, spotted two geese and bolted into 40-degree water. Hans went in after him. Within minutes the cold had taken most of his strength. He couldn't grab Benny, so each time the dog started to sink, he pushed up his hind legs. Bystanders pulled them both onto a pier. Neither was hurt. Benny tried to chase geese again on the walk home.