Buzz
Toys come in all shapes, colors, and sizes. They roll, squish, inflate, talk, buzz, and do a whole lot more. Almost everyone has played with a toy at some point. The toy industry is a massive business, generating $90.4 billion in global sales by 2018.
While toys are designed primarily for fun, as this list demonstrates, these seemingly trivial objects can sometimes play a vital role in saving lives—turning moments of play into moments of survival.
10. Remote-Controlled Toy Truck Saves Soldiers' Lives
Ernie Fessenden, concerned for his brother serving in Afghanistan, teamed up with Kevin Guy, a hobby shop owner, to create a life-saving device. Together, they modified a toy truck by adding a wireless camera and infrared lights, then sent it off to Afghanistan to help save lives in combat zones.
One day, Ernie's brother, Chris, loaned the toy truck to a group of soldiers preparing to go on patrol. As they drove in their Humvee, the soldiers sent the remote-controlled truck ahead to scout for danger. It found danger. The truck got entangled in some wires, and -BOOM!—500 pounds of explosives went off. Fortunately, the soldiers were unharmed.
When Ernie heard about the event, he was in disbelief, saying, "At first, I was just completely shocked… It could have been [Chris] out there… Then it turned into, ‘Do you need another truck?’"
Guy was thrilled, saying, "It’s like we went over to the bad guys and stuck a stick in their eye with a toy…"
Without the modified remote-controlled toy truck, the soldiers would have either had to walk or drive, risking triggering an explosion that could have cost them their lives.
9. Inflatable Toy Turtle Saves 13 People
In July 2017, heavy rainfall hit the Chinese city of Liuyang in Hunan province. In one area of the city, 13 people found themselves trapped in their homes with the water rapidly rising around them.
With no boats in sight and time running out, some quick-thinking police officers rushed to a nearby toy store. There, they found their solution: a bright green inflatable toy turtle.
Returning to the scene, the police officers quickly put the inflatable turtle to work, rescuing all 13 people in just under two hours. Though their actions were heroic, the officers couldn't help but feel a bit embarrassed by their choice of rescue vessel. "Sorry for our vessel being… too cute… But, most importantly, everyone is safe," they said.
What was once a goofy toy associated with small children and poolside fun became an unexpected lifesaver for the 13 trapped people on that unforgettable day.
8. Man Uses Toy Lightsaber to Defend Against Knife Attack
Star Wars fans, it appears that Luke Skywalker is alive and residing in Rock Hill, South Carolina.
On Thursday night, March 17th, 2017, witnesses reported a violent altercation between a 17-year-old stepdaughter and her stepfather. The young woman came armed with two kitchen knives, but her stepfather had a lightsaber to defend himself.
Although it was just a toy lightsaber, it proved effective. Witnesses claimed that the stepfather used it to fend off the young woman’s attacks by striking her multiple times.
7. A Stuffed Animal Rescues a Girl
Minions, the little yellow characters from the 2010 film 'Despicable Me,' have become global icons. Since their breakout film, they starred in their own movie in 2015, which grossed a staggering $1.159 billion. But these little characters are now doing even more extraordinary things off-screen.
On July 16th, 2015, in Colorado Springs, Colorado, a 5-year-old girl was playing inside her family’s third-floor apartment when she accidentally fell out of her bedroom window. At the time, she had been playing with a stuffed Minion teddy bear, which miraculously cushioned her fall, saving her life. She survived the incident with only a broken arm.
In movies, Minions may be associated with supervillains, but in real life, at least in the eyes of one fortunate little girl, they are true superheroes.
6. A Doll Saves A Girl During WWII Bombing
During World War II, the Germans heavily bombed the UK. While Wales endured fewer attacks than London, it still lost 984 people, with 1,221 others seriously injured.
In September 1940, in the Welsh town of Haverfordwest, a German bomb fell near the house where 2-year-old Dorothy Owen lived.
When the ceiling collapsed, her mother rushed upstairs and found the debris-filled room where her daughter’s bedroom once was. Incredibly, the young girl was still alive. The solid head of the doll she had been clutching at the moment of the collapse had shielded her head from the falling debris.
With only a cut on her cheek and neck, Dorothy survived and went on to live a full life. Unsurprisingly, she still possesses the doll that helped save her life that day.
5. Toy Clicker Saved Allied Troops On D-Day
On D-Day, June 6, 1944, the Allied forces launched an assault on the beaches of Normandy, France. A total of 135,000 soldiers participated in the operation, which became a critical turning point in the battle against the Nazis. Tragically, 4,400 soldiers lost their lives, with many more injured or reported missing.
Among the standard gear carried by American paratroopers that day was a small object that many would recognize as a toy from the bottom of a Cracker Jack box. Known as a 'cricket,' it produced a clicking sound when pressed with a thumb, and it played a vital role in the success of the mission.
For Capt. Sam Gibbons of the 101st Airborne, the small toy cricket proved to be a lifesaver. While parachuting into Normandy under the cover of darkness, Gibbons landed in a pasture surrounded by German soldiers. After crawling for about half an hour, he made it to a road, where he encountered another soldier. Unsure of whether the soldier was American or German, Gibbons clicked his cricket. 'I gave him a click, and he responded with two clicks. Boy, was I glad to see him,' he recalled.
In the following hours, Gibbons continued clicking the cricket, managing to gather a small combat patrol to engage the Germans while other Allied soldiers charged the beaches.
The 'cricket'—a brass and steel version of the toy found at the bottom of Cracker Jack boxes—was added to each paratrooper’s gear just before the mission. Along with their weapons and grenades, this simple children’s toy became a crucial tool for survival during that historic battle on the northern coast of France.
4. Kids Use Squirt Guns To Put Out Fire
Few things are more fun for a child on a scorching summer day than a squirt gun battle. Armed with giant super soakers, kids engage in soaking shootouts with their friends, giggling uncontrollably, while any parents who find themselves in the line of fire call for mercy.
On May 31, 2016, five kids from West Fargo, North Dakota, were probably hearing congratulatory cheers instead of the usual parental scolding. During an epic water fight near their apartment complex, the group caught a whiff of smoke.
The smoke led them to the deck of a nearby apartment where a fire had broken out and was rapidly spreading. Worse still, the man inside the apartment was housebound and on oxygen, unable to escape. Without hesitation, the kids shifted their focus from drenching each other to dousing the flames threatening the man’s home.
By the time the fire department arrived, the blaze had been nearly extinguished, with only smoldering remains left.
3. Little Red Wagon Saves Children’s Lives
One day, a father was pulling his 15-month-old son and his 2-year-old daughter in a red plastic toy wagon. Everything was fine until a woman, distracted for a moment, veered off the road and struck the wagon, sending the two children underneath her car.
Incredibly, the siblings survived, all thanks to the little red wagon they were riding in. Despite being dragged for 50 feet under the woman’s car, the wagon held up, protecting the children from what would have otherwise been certain death.
2. Video Game Driving Skills Save The Day
These days, it’s almost impossible to browse the web or watch TV without encountering debates on whether video games contribute to violence. While the answer to that question may still be unresolved, there is no question that video games saved the life of a 10-year-old boy from Golden, Colorado.
One day, Gryffin Sanders and his 4-year-old brother were riding in a car driven by their grandmother when, without warning, she passed out. As the car veered into oncoming traffic, Gryffin tried unsuccessfully to wake her. In a panic, he took control of the vehicle, steering it off the road and into a muddy ditch. The car slowed to a stop, and everyone was safe.
His grandmother was later airlifted to the hospital, where she made a full recovery.
After the interview, Gryffin revealed that his experience with Mario Kart helped him maintain his composure and steer safely through the situation, crediting the driving skills he honed in the game.
1. Stuffed Animals Can Save Even Adults
Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, a British politician, had initially considered discarding the bag of stuffed foxes he had received from a Chinese internet company. However, he reconsidered when thinking about his family and decided to keep them. That turned out to be a wise decision.
Clifton-Brown, while walking outside a Beijing hotel, slipped into a deep concrete shaft. 'The crunch came when I dropped 20 feet into the pit, hitting the concrete floor,' he recalled, visibly shaken from the experience.
Miraculously, the stuffed toys he had almost thrown away became a lifesaver. 'I grabbed the bag of stuffed foxes, and by pure chance, they cushioned my fall, literally saving my life,' he said.
