10 Individuals Who Displayed Unbelievable Strength to Save a Life

Jack Kirby, the legendary creator of the Incredible Hulk, revealed that the superhero was inspired by a moment when a mother, in a state of utter desperation, lifted a car. He argued that such feats of strength could be triggered by extreme situations, and he might have been right. Whether fueled by desperation, adrenaline, or a phenomenon known as hysterical strength, there have been several documented cases where individuals, regardless of age or gender, displayed superhuman strength in life-or-death circumstances.

10. Angela Cavallo

In 1982, Angela Cavallo, a woman in her late 50s, was living in Lawrenceville, Georgia. Her teenage son, Tony, was working on the suspension of his 1964 Chevrolet Impala in their driveway, trying to loosen a part. The knocking motion caused the car to slip off the jack and land on Tony, leaving him unconscious beneath the vehicle. An eleven-year-old boy named Johnny Edwards, visiting his grandparents nearby, witnessed the accident. He rushed to the Cavallo's house to alert them of the incident. In a panic, Angela hurried outside and attempted to lift the car, shouting for help.

The 1964 Impala weighs 3,295 pounds (1,495 kilograms), and Angela Cavallo used all her strength to lift the rear end of the nearly two-ton vehicle to free her son. Despite her fear and desperation, she not only managed to raise the car enough to alleviate the pressure on Tony but also kept it suspended while desperately urging him to wake up and escape. Astonishingly, she managed to hold the car for approximately five minutes! Meanwhile, Johnny went to get neighbors to help, while Angela struggled to prevent the car from crashing back onto her son.

Eventually, two men arrived and placed the jack back under the Impala, allowing Tony to be safely pulled from beneath it. Miraculously, Tony only sustained minor scrapes and bruises, and after just two nights in the hospital, he was able to return home. While Angela may not have thrown the car off like The Hulk, she demonstrated not only remarkable strength but also extraordinary endurance.

9. Lauren Kornacki

In 2012, Lauren Kornacki, a recent college graduate living with her parents in Virginia, was looking for her father to ask if she could borrow the car for the weekend. Unable to find him inside, she learned from her mother that he was outside. When Lauren went out to find him, she discovered her father trapped under a BMW 525i, unresponsive and with one arm pinned beneath his chest. Realizing the jack had fallen, Lauren attempted to lift the car herself.

At 22 years old and standing at a small frame, it seems unlikely that Lauren would have the strength to lift a one-and-a-half-ton car. Yet, driven by a rush of adrenaline, Lauren not only lifted the vehicle off her father but astonishingly hurled it aside. After freeing him, she immediately began CPR, helping him regain the ability to breathe on his own. He was quickly rushed to the hospital.

Lauren's father suffered five fractured ribs, a broken sternum and vertebrae, along with temporary loss of feeling in his arm, but ultimately recovered fully. It's truly astonishing to think that a car heavy enough to crush bones could also be lifted and moved aside by someone.

8. Hannah and Haylee Smith

In Oregon, Jeff Smith, a 36-year-old father of two, sent his teenage daughters out for a walk with the dogs before he started working in the yard. While attempting to pull a stump from the ground, his muddy boot slipped off the clutch, causing the tractor to flip and pin him underneath. Struggling to breathe, Jeff did his best to yell for help, unsure if anyone would be able to hear him, especially since the girls had just left moments before. But within a minute, his daughters appeared, trying to dig him out from under the three-thousand-pound tractor.

Hannah, 16, and Haylee, 14, quickly realized that digging wasn't going to work. To save their father, they would have to lift the tractor. Jeff, gasping for air, gave them instructions on where to lift. The two girls managed to lift the tractor just enough for Jeff to take a breath before it fell back on him. Undeterred, they tried again, and this time, Jeff was able to wriggle out to safety.

Jeff was fortunate to escape with minimal injuries: a broken wrist and a few bumps and bruises. However, Haylee strained a muscle during the ordeal, and Hannah mentioned feeling like "an 80-year-old getting out of bed" the following morning. Jeff fully recognized the gravity of the situation, stating, "They saved my life."

7. Cecil Stuckless

In July 2013, Frank Vatcher was working on replacing the brakes of a Jeep in Salvage, Newfoundland, alongside his father-in-law, Cecil Stuckless. Frank had sent Cecil to fetch a clamp from the shed, but while he was gone, the Jeep became unbalanced and ended up pinning Frank underneath it. Hearing Frank's cries for help, Cecil rushed back into the garage.

At the time, Cecil Stuckless was 72 years old. Without a second thought, he sprinted to the Jeep and managed to lift it enough for Frank to free himself. Despite his heroic actions, Cecil must have been filled with fear as the weight of the Jeep had caused Frank severe injury, leaving him with 38 stitches in his head. Frank eventually recovered fully, and Cecil became a local legend, hailed as a "Superman" by his community. However, Cecil humbly declined the title, saying he "just did what he could do." It's even more impressive considering that at 72, he had never lifted anything that heavy before.

6. Austin Smith

It’s one thing for a 72-year-old to lift a car off a young person, but what about a 15-year-old trying to lift a car trapping his grandfather? Austin Smith was at his grandparents' house when his 74-year-old grandfather, Papa Ernie, was in the garage working on the brakes of an old car, getting it ready for another grandchild. When Ernie noticed an oil leak beneath the vehicle, he crawled underneath to inspect it. As he pulled himself out by the bumper, the car shifted and pinned him underneath. The car, a 2,000-pound (907-kilogram) Buick, left Austin paralyzed with fear, unsure of how to react.

In his panic, Austin did the only thing he could think of: he attempted to lift the one-ton vehicle off his grandfather. With all his strength, Austin managed not only to lift the Buick but also to push it back about two feet to free Ernie from under the car.

Austin was an active teen, participating in various sports and maintaining a regular workout routine, but he admits that lifting a one-ton car wasn’t something he could do again. He attributes the feat to sheer adrenaline and humbly claims that "the good Lord upstairs helped me pick it up." Ernie, though suffering from broken ribs and a blow to the head from the vehicle, described the sensation as an "explosion in my head." Thanks to Austin’s miraculous strength, Papa Ernie made a complete recovery in no time.

5. Deputy J. Holt

When it comes to extraordinary feats of strength, many people believe that the love for the person in danger is the driving force behind such acts, but that isn’t always the case. Deputy J. Holt from Gloucester, Virginia, was assisting with an accident when he saw a car spin out of control. He ran to the scene, where he discovered that the vehicle had flipped over. The daughter of the woman trapped inside told him that her mother was stuck. The child’s desperate screams filled the air, pleading for someone to help her mother. Before Deputy Holt could assist, he had to coax the young boy out of the vehicle. To make matters worse, it was Mother’s Day weekend, and the children were on the verge of losing their mother. Once the boy was out, Deputy Holt knew he had to get the car off her immediately to save her life.

Deputy Holt braced himself, placing his shoulder against the door frame, telling himself, "All I have to do is just stand up." With that, he summoned all his strength and lifted the vehicle. The woman, who had been trapped under the car, was miraculously conscious enough to pull herself out of the SUV once it was raised. Though she had been struggling to breathe while trapped beneath the car, as soon as the SUV was lifted, she began breathing again. She was immediately rushed to the hospital and fully recovered. In fact, Deputy Holt's actions may warrant him the title of a superhero. A veteran of the Iraq War, Holt had also rescued two people from a burning house just a year earlier.

4. Kenny Franklin

Many people have had strange or surprising rides in Ubers, but Kenny Franklin’s experience might just top them all. One day, on his way to work, Kenny called for his usual Uber ride. During their trip, the Uber driver suddenly began experiencing a seizure. As his foot remained pressed on the gas pedal, the car accelerated uncontrollably. Remarkably, from the backseat, Kenny was able to grab hold of the steering wheel, remove the driver's foot from the gas pedal, and steer the car to safety. Not only did he save his own life, but he also saved the driver’s and likely prevented a serious accident.

A Florida State Trooper, Jack Hypes, arrived at the scene where the erratic-driving Uber had come to a stop on the roadside. By then, the driver had regained consciousness but was still disoriented. In an attempt to move the vehicle, the driver mistakenly put the car in reverse just as Officer Hypes was approaching.

The trooper was struck, and as he rolled upon impact, his body was pinned under the car. Moving the vehicle forward wasn’t an option, as it would only cause more harm and further injury. The only solution was to lift the car. With determination, Kenny summoned every ounce of his strength to lift the vehicle, giving Officer Hypes enough time to free himself. Though Hypes sustained non-life-threatening injuries, Kenny's swift action saved him. Later, Kenny planned to grab coffee with the officer, who had become another person Kenny helped that day. Though Kenny was hailed as a hero, he humbly insists he was "just in the right place, at the right time to help."

3. Lydia Angiyou

In a dramatic shift from vehicle lifting, Lydia Angiyou discovered her true strength when she faced an entirely different kind of danger. While walking with her children in a small northern Quebec town, she stumbled upon a group of children who were no longer playing but instead screaming in fear. Lydia’s heart sank when she realized they were shouting about a 'polar bear.' Before she knew it, Lydia found herself face-to-face with a massive 700-pound (317-kilogram) polar bear, with her two sons standing by her side. Quickly, she instructed her children to run while she took a stand to distract the bear from the children behind her.

Standing at just under five feet tall and weighing barely 100 pounds, 41-year-old Lydia made a brave, almost unimaginable decision. She chose to confront the bear in the most direct way possible — by wrestling it. She yelled, kicked, and even punched the beast, one of the most dangerous animals in the world. Despite her courageous efforts, the bear swatted her to the ground. Not giving up, Lydia fought back with everything she had, even delivering a 'bicycle kick' to the bear, which only earned her another swipe to the face. By this time, the children had managed to escape to safety and alert help. A neighbor, witnessing Lydia struggling with the bear, rushed to get a shotgun from his brother’s house.

The neighbor, armed with a shotgun, fired four warning shots into the air, hoping to divert the bear’s attention long enough to make a clear shot. After the fourth shot, the bear hesitated just enough for the neighbor to fire three more rounds, bringing the animal down. After the bear was neutralized, Lydia was immediately rushed to the hospital, her body covered in blood. In a dazed state, all she could utter was 'bear, bear,' completely in shock from the ordeal. Remarkably, despite her harrowing battle with the massive polar bear, Lydia only suffered a black eye and some scrapes. A quiet, petite woman had taken down a deadly polar bear. It’s truly awe-inspiring what people can accomplish when faced with the ultimate challenge.

2. Zac Clark

Sixteen-year-old Zac Clark was helping his mother, Lora, with the garden outside their home in Butler, Ohio, on a Saturday in September 2019. Nearby, a neighbor was working on his Volkswagen Passat when suddenly, his wife started screaming for help. Both Lora and Zac rushed to the scene, ready to assist. What they found shocked Zac: only the neighbor's legs were visible, while the rest of his body was trapped under the weight of the car. His head and ribs were being crushed beneath the vehicle. Lora quickly assessed the situation and told Zac, “there’s no way we can lift this car,” but Zac, determined, wasn’t ready to give up.

Despite the daunting task, Zac somehow found the strength to lift the over 3,000-pound (1,360-kilogram) car off his neighbor. With his mother and the neighbor’s wife, they managed to pull the man free. He had sustained fractured ribs and severe facial wounds that Zac later described as 'messed up pretty bad.' However, thanks to the efforts, the neighbor would fully recover. While the feat of lifting an entire car was remarkable, those who knew Zac weren’t at all surprised by his actions. His football coach shared that Zac 'just has a huge heart.' Having lost his father the previous year, Zac was motivated by the thought of his own dad, and he drew strength from that memory, hoping to save his neighbor to help keep a family together.

1. Nick Harris

On December 21, 2009, Nick Harris was dropping his daughter off at school when an unexpected and dangerous moment unfolded. As his daughter skipped away to class, a six-year-old girl named Ashlyn Hough was walking along the sidewalk. Just as Ashlyn passed by, a car began to reverse from a nearby driveway. Nick glanced over in time to see Ashlyn being struck by the vehicle and rolled beneath it. Without hesitation, Nick sprang into action, running to the scene of the accident. He quickly realized that the vehicle had come to a stop on Ashlyn’s hips.

Nick, unsure of how he found the strength, managed to 'grab the car, pick it up, and move it out of the way.' Ashlyn was immediately taken to the hospital, but Nick later met up with her, expecting to see her in a half-cast. To his relief, the young girl had only suffered some bumps and a rash. Nick attempted to lift a car again on a few occasions but found it impossible. He believes that the miraculous feat was simply a matter of being in the right place at the right time.