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We all hope karma is real. While not everyone is convinced of a mystical force ensuring the good are rewarded, witnessing acts of selfless kindness often makes us believe there must be something at play.
It doesn't happen every time, but there are moments when good deeds are met with the perfect reward, making us wonder if karma is more than just a concept.
10. James Harrison's Blood Donations Saved Over Two Million Babies
At 14, James Harrison came close to death. A major chest surgery saved his life, requiring one of his lungs to be removed, and 2 liters (0.5 gal) of blood was lost in the process. He understood he only survived because of blood donations from strangers, and he vowed to do the same for others.
Determined to give back, Harrison made a promise to donate blood as often as possible once he was old enough. He kept his word, donating his first pint of blood on his 18th birthday.
It wasn’t long before doctors discovered Harrison’s blood was unique. It contained antibodies that could essentially cure rhesus disease, a dangerous blood disorder that can result in babies being born with severe brain damage or even death.
The doctors encouraged Harrison to donate plasma regularly for testing, and he agreed. His blood became the key to saving lives. Now in his seventies, Harrison’s donations have helped save the lives of over two million babies.
But his impact didn’t stop there. When Harrison’s daughter, Tracey, became pregnant and was diagnosed with a risk of rhesus disease, his blood donations ensured her baby’s safe birth. Thanks to his decision to donate blood at 18, James Harrison was able to become a grandfather.
9. A Boy Saved The Man Who Had Been Rescued By His Wife Nine Years Earlier
In 1965, when Roger Lausier was just four years old, he wandered off from his mother during a beach trip. He ventured into the water and tried to swim, but an undercurrent dragged him down. Just as he was about to drown, a stranger named Alice Blaise leaped into the water, pulled him to safety, and revived him, saving his life.
Nine years later, 13-year-old Roger found himself on the same beach when he heard a woman scream, 'My husband is drowning!' Although Roger didn’t recognize her, he immediately sprang into action. He grabbed an inflatable raft, paddled to the man, and rescued him, saving his life.
It wasn’t until the next day, when the news reported the rescue, that anyone realized the remarkable coincidence. It was then that Alice Blaise recognized that the young man who had just saved her husband’s life was the same four-year-old boy she had once saved from drowning.
8. Holocaust Survivors Were Saved During the Bosnian Genocide
In 1941, when the Germans invaded Sarajevo, the Kavilio family feared for their lives. Being Jewish and with the Nazis closing in, they knew they had to escape.
Mustafa Hardaga, a Muslim friend, offered the Kavilio family refuge in his home and assisted them in fleeing the country. With the Hardagas' help, every member of the Kavilio family made it to safety—except for the father, Josef Kavilio.
Josef was captured by the Germans and forced to work in a chain gang. But once again, the Hardagas came to his rescue. Mustafa’s wife Zejneba secretly brought him food, helped him escape, and hid him in their home. They then helped him leave the country and reunite with his family.
More than 50 years later, when the Bosnian War erupted in Sarajevo, it quickly escalated into a genocide where 8,000 Muslims were murdered.
The Hardagas probably would not have survived without intervention. As soon as the genocide began, Israel’s Holocaust memorial, Yad Vashem, used its influence to bring the Hardagas to safety in Israel. In return for saving the Kavilio family, they ensured that a Muslim family escaped the horrors of genocide.
7. A Man Survived an Undiagnosed Illness Thanks to His Habit of Donating Blood
Jim Becker began donating blood as a way to support his love for the Green Bay Packers. Unable to afford tickets to their games, he would justify buying them by donating blood regularly. Every time he gave a pint, he rewarded himself by using the money to attend an NFL game.
It turned out that his blood donations were more than just a self-rewarding act—they were the reason he survived.
In 1975, after over two decades of donating blood, Becker was diagnosed with hemochromatosis, a condition that causes a dangerous iron buildup in the organs, typically treated by bloodletting. Becker had unknowingly been managing this condition for nearly 20 years simply by donating blood.
Once diagnosed, Becker received appropriate treatment, but without his blood donations, he would not have lived long enough to get the diagnosis. His intention to help others ended up saving his own life by pure chance.
6. A Man Survived a Heart Attack Because He Stopped to Help a Stranger
In 2011, while driving down a Wisconsin interstate, Victor Giesbrecht and his wife Ann noticed two young women stranded on the side of the road. The women, Lisa Meier and Sara Berg, had a flat tire and didn’t know how to change it.
The Giesbrechts, being seasoned drivers, pulled over without hesitation to help the stranded women. They swiftly changed the tire and sent the grateful strangers on their way.
Not long after, the Giesbrechts' truck, traveling ahead of the women, swerved to the side of the road. The women stopped to check on them and saw Ann Giesbrecht running out, shouting that her husband was having a heart attack.
Though Lisa and Sara didn’t know much about cars, Sara, a nursing assistant, immediately recognized the situation and sprang into action. She performed CPR on Victor while her friend dialed 911. The paramedics arrived in time, and Victor survived the heart attack, all because he had taken a moment to help a stranger.
5. A Man Saved His Future Wife’s Life by Donating Half of His Liver
Christopher Dempsey made an extraordinary sacrifice by donating half of his liver to a woman he had never met. He overheard a coworker talking about her cousin, who was battling stage-four liver disease. She was in desperate need of a liver transplant but faced long odds—there were 119,000 people ahead of her on the transplant list. Without a donor, she only had two months to live.
Though Dempsey didn’t know the family, he felt compelled to help. He intervened and offered to get tested to see if he could be a match. When he learned that he was, he committed to donating part of his liver.
The woman Dempsey saved was Heather Krueger. They didn’t meet until after he had already agreed to give her his liver. However, once they did meet, sparks flew. They began dating following the surgery, and in 2016, two years after Dempsey saved her life, he married Heather—a woman he would never have crossed paths with had he not made the selfless decision to donate part of his liver to a stranger.
4. A Doctor’s Life Was Saved by the Patient He Had Saved
In 2011, Dr. Michael Shannon endured a horrific ordeal when his SUV was struck by a truck on the highway. The collision pinned his vehicle, trapping him inside as flames began to engulf the engine. There seemed to be no way out, and the fire was spreading rapidly.
When the rescue team arrived, Dr. Shannon’s legs were already burning. The firefighters managed to put out the flames and free him from the wreckage using the jaws of life, saving him from certain death.
Paramedic Chris Trokey was the one who pulled Dr. Shannon from the wreck and rushed him to the hospital. It wasn’t until they arrived that Trokey realized the identity of the person he had just saved. Hearing the patient’s name, 'Dr. Shannon,' he was struck by the incredible coincidence.
Trokey had been born prematurely, weighing just 1.5 kilograms (3.2 lb), with little hope of survival. It was Dr. Shannon who had worked tirelessly to keep him alive during his early days, making him the reason Trokey had survived. Now, in a turn of fate, Trokey was the one saving Dr. Shannon’s life.
3. A Homeless Man Returned a $4,000 Ring and Got a House
While begging for change in Kansas City, Billy Ray Harris had an unexpected stroke of luck. A woman named Sarah Darling, intending to drop a few coins into his cup, accidentally dropped her engagement ring instead. In the hands of a homeless man, this ring, worth what seemed to him like a small fortune, was now his.
Harris’s initial thought was to pawn the ring, and when a nearby jeweler offered him $4,000, he was tempted. But then, a feeling of guilt stopped him, and he decided not to go through with it. Instead, he waited for Sarah to return and asked if she had lost her ring.
Grateful for his honesty, Sarah Darling set up an online fundraiser to try to raise some money for the man who had returned her ring. However, the story quickly went viral, and Harris ended up receiving much more help than he had ever imagined.
The attention from the viral story also reached Harris's estranged family. His sister tracked him down and invited him back into the family, reconnecting him with relatives he hadn’t seen in years and giving him the chance to meet his nieces and nephews for the very first time.
By the end of the campaign, the Darlings had raised more than $185,000 for Billy Ray Harris. With this newfound financial support, he was able to purchase a home and a car, ultimately getting his life back on track—proving that sometimes, the value of kindness far exceeds any monetary amount.
2. A Woman Is Saved By A Boy She Saved
At the age of ten, Kevin Stephan found himself serving as the bat boy for his younger brother’s baseball team—and was nearly killed. While warming up, a careless swing from a young player sent the baseball bat crashing into Stephan’s chest with enough force to stop his heart.
Fortunately, Penny Brown, a nurse who happened to be in the crowd, rushed to his aid. She quickly administered CPR, restarting his heart and ultimately saving his life.
In 2006, seven years after their initial encounter, Kevin had the chance to return the favor. Penny, who had once saved his life, was dining at a restaurant where Kevin worked when she began choking on her food. Stephan, unaware of the connection, swiftly performed the Heimlich maneuver, dislodging the obstruction. It wasn’t until later that he realized he had repaid a seven-year-old debt.
1. A CPR Instructor Was Rescued by His Own Students
Bob Marlin dedicated his career to teaching CPR, offering training to fire departments, emergency teams, and local businesses. Among his students were the paramedics who helped him when he needed it most, after suffering a heart attack.
Bob had just hit a line drive when he felt a sharp pain in his chest. His brother, Bill, recalling the CPR techniques Bob had taught him, immediately called for help and began chest compressions. A golf course employee grabbed a defibrillator, while others called paramedics to take Bob to the hospital.
A group of six individuals helped save Bob’s life that day—each one was someone Bob had trained himself in the art of CPR. It was the very methods he had taught that ultimately brought him back to safety.
