Article created by: Viktorija Ošikaitė
There are many people who are heroes, just by the nature of the field they work in. They might be firefighters, lawyers, social workers, teachers, paramedics, or a number of other careers. But when they put on their uniform or start their day, they are changing and saving lives. And as much as we need and appreciate all of these hard workers, many of us often associate their jobs with the most challenging days. Seeing patients struggle or watching a family lose their home to a natural disaster cannot be easy to experience day after day. So right now, we’re going to take a moment to appreciate all of the best moments these heroes have had during their emotionally taxing careers.
One curious Reddit user posed the question, “People with emotionally difficult jobs (police, EMS, firefighters, doctors, nurses, therapists, etc.), what was your BEST day on the job?” And hundreds of heroes responded with heartwarming moments from their careers. We’ve gathered some of the most impactful stories down below, but I’ll warn you right now, you might want to grab a box of tissues! Keep reading to also find an interview with firefighter, paramedic and the man behind The Happy Medic blog, Justin Schorr.
Be sure to upvote the replies that touch you, and let us know in the comments below if you have any similar stories to share from your own career. Then if you’re interested in reading another Bored Panda article featuring heartwarming moments that will brighten your day, we recommend checking out this list next.
#1
I was a SAHM, with four children, ages 8, 4, 3 and 1. You can imagine how crazed my life could be. One day, we were over at my mother-in-law's house for Sunday dinner, and I had left the kids with the family so I could run to the store to get butter or rolls, some small thing to go with dinner.When I came back, my mother-in-law said, "Did you see how your kids' faces lit up the second you walked in the door?" I hadn't seen anything. But the next time the situation came up, I paid attention this time. And she was right! I was so busy being Crazy Harassed Mom with Too Much to Worry About that I was missing it: my kids adored me, and I wasn't seeing it.
Trust me, after that, I paid a lot more attention.
Image credits: AJClarkson
#2
I was typing a report parked outside of a mall when a little girl who was 3-5 years old walked in front of my cruiser wearing pink gum boots and a yellow rain coat. She began waving at me and I waved back and even flashed the lights. She was super excited and turned to her dad to say something while smiling ear to ear and jumping around.They dissapeared into the mall and came out a minute later with a coffee and a cookie. The girl brought the food to my window and I thanked her for them and asked if she wanted to sit in the driver seat. She was so excited and hopped in the car, I let her chirp the sirens, turn on the lights and even use the load speaker to say hello to her dad.
The dad was almost tearful with how much his daughter was enjoying this experience and told me that the country that they came from you couldn't trust the police and nothing like this interaction could ever happen. I cant remember what country he said they immigrated from but it was in the middle east. He asked me to join them for a coffee. I had to decline do to being horrifically behind on paper already but thanked him for the coffee and cookie.
I think about this day a lot when I have bad ones, it is quite a cherished memory of mine.
Image credits: Cleaborg
#3
This story does not have very high stakes but it still brings a smile to my face. I use to work at a certain video game retail store. One day a mother came in with tears in her eyes. Her son stole rent money and bought a psp with it. She was such a kind lady and she explained her situation. She knew that she could only get a fraction of the money back in case but she needed it for rent. She was looking to trade it in for cash. She had read the receipt and knew she was past the one week deadline and was not even trying to get a refund. So I quickly jumped on the computer and moved every psp out of stock. Then took her psp and smashed its screen on the counter. I then gave the shocked woman a smile and apologized that she had been given a broken psp. I told her that, while I would normally be happy to trade it out for a new one, I was unable to at the moment as we were fresh out. So all I could do was give her a full refund. She was so greatful and kind. I was really happy to be able to do that for her.
Image credits: Nilocmirror
#4
I was a dispatcher for a residential alarm company similar to ADT. I would call people when their alarm was tripped and ask them if they were okay.One day I received a signal from a residence from a glass break sensor on a window in the bathroom.
When i called the lady was laughing so hard she could barely give me her safety password.
Turns out she was cleaning her bathroom and when she bent over she farted so hard and loud it set off the sensor on the bathroom window.
EDIT: I somehow got a silver while having no upvotes, nice
Image credits: DerpyTheCow47
#5
One of my students was accepted to Harvard. His mother said I should ask him to show me his application essay. The essay was literally about the impact I had on his life. Not gonna lie- I cried.
Image credits: harpejjist
#6
I work in a theater. It can be a very stressfull environment depending on they type of show and client.A youth group came in for a two week show run a few years ago. Some of the kids act, some have technical roles and some help out back stage with scenery and props.
This time around I was the lighting designer/operator. One of the kids that got assigned to help with lights was an 11-year-old with cochlear implants. His implants worked great and he could have a regular conversation with anyone. The one thing that gave home trouble was the ClearCom headset. (What the crew uses to talk to each other during the show) It was bulky and interfered with his implants, it also didn't give him the best sound quality.
During the course of our conversations he mentioned that he could also take an AUX input into his sound processor, and showed me the mini stereo jack that allows him to do that. The gears in my brain immediately started spinning.
That night I went home and looked up the schematics for the ClearCom system. The one we had was relatively simple. Through some studying of the schematics I determined that I could make a cable that was 4-pin XLR on one end and mini stereo at the other end. This would allow him to plug his processor into the system and hear what everyone is saying.
I brought the cable in the next day and we tested it out. It worked! The kid was super stoked but more than that his parents could not thank me enough for taking the time and care to do something like that for the son.
Best day of work ever.
I also let him keep the cable I made so no matter which theater he went to he could plug right in.
Image credits: shavemejesus
#7
Volunteer firefighter. We had an apartment fire, not too bad, but thick smoke to the floor. Partner and I did a search of the living room, with me leading. I was on the wall under a window when I found a large cage with a small, furry ball in a corner. I called to my partner,"Matt! FERRET!"
We finished the search, grabbed the whole cage, and hauled it outside. The poor thing wasn't moving, was covered in soot, and had blood on its muzzle. Sorry, buddy.
We went back in, mopped up a hot spot, and helped with overhaul. When we came back out, someone said, "Hey, that critter was moving!"
I pulled the ferret out of the cage, and hustled to the ambulance. My dad, an EMT, hooked up a nasal cannula to the oxygen, and we got the tubes lined up with the ferret's nostrils.
A few seconds later, it perked up, wiggled a bit, and opened its eyes.
After a trip to the vet and a bath, he was good as new.
He lived for 5 more years.
In 17 years of firefighting, he was my only live rescue.
Image credits: Jef_Wheaton
#8
I was a preschool teacher for low income families, it was heartbreaking every single day. Kids who came to school dirty and hungry, who only get to eat meals at the school- drug addicted parents, just... so hard. I had about 17 children in my class and I truly loved every single one of them. I gave them 150 percent of myself every day, and thought about each one of them every night. One day, one of my kids was having a really rough day, he was acting out and hitting and crying and very angry. I pulled him aside to have a chat to see if I could help and he just fell into my arms and cried for 5 minutes straight, turned out his dad had gone back to jail the night before and this time wouldn’t be getting out soon. I helped him “write” a letter to his dad and he drew a picture of them together and by the end I guess he was feeling a little better. I got up but his little 4 year old hands pulled me back down and he grabbed my face with both hands and looked me straight in my eyes and said “I love you so much miss ——— (my first name) u make my heart happy” and I fought back tears and told him how much I loved him too. I still think about him and that moment years later and how even on the darkest days man.. kids are just full of love. I had a lot of moments like that working with kids, but this one is seared in my heart forever.
Image credits: catsbluepajamas
#9
I worked at a bicycle shop doing the basics: sales, bike builds, repairs.One day this homeless man comes in asking if we could help him out with his bike, but he didn't have a way to pay for any service. The store owner was out for a bit and we were unsure how he would feel about us doing free work.
My co-workers and I were hesitant to get too involved or really even look at it, but it's hard to turn down a person in obvious need. We figured we could just turn a quick wrench or make a minor adjustment and get him back on the road.
It turns out that his rear cassette was busted (I don't remember what was wrong with it specifically) and needed to be completely replaced - bummer, not a quick fix.
It turns out that we would often find abandoned bicycles leaning against our rear exterior wall. I ran out back to see if we'd get lucky and scavenge a used cassette.
No luck that day.
However, we WERE right next to a popular donation station that had drop offs all the time. As luck would have it, a man was unloading a bunch of items out of his truck, including a couple of bicycles. I ran over to him before he pulled the bicycles out and asked him I I could have one for parts. He was giving them away anyway and didn't particularly care where they went, so he gladly gave me one.
I wheeled it past an unapproving donation station worker, but since the donation hadn't happened yet, he had no recourse.
My co-workers and I teamed up on the swap and got the man on his way as quickly as possible.
Once the man left with his now functional bicycle, we all took a second to smile at each other, feeling like we did something awesome for a fellow human being.
It's amazing what a difference five minutes can make
Image credits: _etherbunny
#10
Back around 1998 or 1999, I was new to the workforce in my first post-grad job ever. I was rather shy and nervous about the whole thing. I'm an extrovert, but was having trouble making friends at work.On my birthday, my wife had an absolutely huge raspberry chocolate cake delivered to my work for me. It was probably a good 8 inches tall and about 18 inches by 24 inches. Massive and heavy. Tasted delicious.
It was delivered to my boss, who set it up beside my desk. He sent out a company wide email telling people where the cake was and to wish me a happy birthday. I had a constant stream of people in an out of my cube all day, some of which I got to know fairly well after their 4th piece. There was a very visible river of chocolate crumbs leading away from my cube. And from that day on everything had changed. I knew a lot of people well enough to strike up a conversation, and it seemed like everyone knew me enough to start chatting.
It was a good day.
Image credits: Reddit_Bork
#11
I'm nothing special, just a regular office worker doing her thing. It's very chill and I like what I do; while not incredibly inspiring, the best day on my job was the day my supervisor just kinda stopped typing, looked pensive for a few moments, and just went "You know Shorty, we really don't tell people enough when they're appreciated. I just want you to know we appreciate you".I have gone through years of low self-esteem professionally-wise, with a myriad of agonizing jobs where I was made to feel small and that my job was a huge favor to me. Just hearing someone say I was valued was so huge for me, I still remember it was on August 11th.
Image credits: ShortyColombo
#12
We had a wedding! Back in the 1980s, Out patient George was dying of an aggressive cancer. He and his significant other Martha had been together for 46 years. They had lived as husband and wife and raised a family, with Martha being a stay-at-home mom and homemaker, as was common back then. An LPN was giving her a lift home and learned that they were never legally married. Martha would have no rights as his to his pension as surviving spouse, or social security (was too late) or as a spouse inheriting the house. The social worker confirmed there was no common law marriage. So we planned a wedding right there in the hospital.George's doctor signed the forms saying he could not appear to obtain the licence, and someone took Martha to get the license. We all pitched in to get rings and some flowers. One of the nurses brought a little white fascinator for Martha to wear. We had some recorded music. The hospital chaplain performed the ceremony.
The wedding was joyful event in a sad situation.
Image credits: allthedifference
#13
During my time as a student teacher I was reading a fairly boring article about Aztec people I think. To make it not so boring for the kids and so they would listen more I stopped every now and then and added in extra details and compared things to examples of real life so they could have a better understanding of what was happening. All of the kids were absolutely silent the entire time and staring at me. When I finished the article a few of the kids started clapping like they had just seen a play or something. They stopped really quickly and looked a little embarrassed but I don't think I have ever felt so good. Every single student was asking questions and engaged and it just made me feel so good. I've never felt so great about something before.
Image credits: Slamma_jamma1
#14
I’m a crisis counselor and negotiator for a police department. The morning of this day, I got accepted to PA school. It was such a joyous occasion. My first case at work was a kid who was hanging off the edge of a tall building. I remember walking up and thinking “not today.” We talked for several hours. We talked about important things and small things. Eventually, he came back over the ledge and I was able to shake his hand. This job can come with some very bad days. But that day I walked away from there feeling so fulfilled. That was my best day.
Image credits: StruggleToTheHeights
#15
Doctor. I was on duty in the emergency unit in a rural hospital in a third world country when two women arrived with >60% total body surface area burns after the gas canister in the school kitchen where they volunteered exploded. Both women were fully conscious when they were brought in. I treated them aggressively - morphine, fluids, burn dressings, intubated both to protect their airways - and made arrangements for transfer to a hospital equipped to treat them further, but this has an extremely poor prognosis due to ongoing damage and associated complications. I was sad but not surprised to hear that the one woman passed away within hours. At that stage I worked in a very fragmented system and since I did not hear anything about the second woman I assumed she died as well.For some weeks I had trouble adjusting to the idea that the last thing in their lives those two women heard was me saying, "Hi, I'm Dr So-and-So, you got very badly burnt, I gave you some strong pain stuff but I'm worried about damage to your face, so I'm going to give you something to make you sleep and then put a tube in your lungs to protect them, ok?" (paraphrased slightly)
Slightly over six months later I get a call from the sister on duty at the emergency unit, "There is someone here that you absolutely want to see."
It was the second woman from that fire. She had been through hell - skin grafts, rehabilitation, depression - but against the odds had survived. She also immediately recognised me as the one who said "I'm going to give you something to make you sleep," but she remembered it more favorably than I did.
It was easily the happiest day of my entire career so far, practicing for +- 11years now.
Image credits: blueginpinktonic
#16
I was a teacher in a low income-charter school, which you may recognize as a recipe for disaster. The school was poorly run, we had to provide most supplies ourselves, and had unreasonable and unrealistic expectations placed on us. I was teaching 1st grade at the time. We had a rule that only one child could be out of the classroom at a time, no matter what. I had 30 kids. Eventually, one of my kids had a bathroom accident (I have to say here, if I knew he had to go that bad, I would have let him go rules be damned. He never gave any indication that it was an emergency). He did his best, but 1st graders have small bladders. I got him a change of clothes and minimized his embarrassment as much as I could. His mom was furious. She came in the next day and spent a solid 10 minutes screaming at me. A dean finally came and escorted her away and I thought that would be the end of it. It wasn't. She stayed at the school the entire day and just...watched. She saw what the teachers were going through and what we had to deal with. She came back to me at the end of the day and apologized. She was my biggest supporter from then on and if I needed something, she had it for me. On the day I quit, she hugged me and told me that I was too good for that place and it was her son's last day too. Obviously, I've had better days than that in my career, but that was a day that gave me hope and helped me not give up my career due to one bad school.
Image credits: talibob
#17
Policeman in small town. Got a call to try and locate a woman who was on the heart transplant list. She wasn't answering her phone or pager. Early 90's and she didn't have a cell phone.It was in the middle of the night and cold in the middle if Feb.
I knocked on the door of every neighbour on her culdesac without success.
Last house on Culdesac which was across the street told me she'd gone to her mothers out of town. Was able to get her number and contact her.
She got a new heart that night.
I'm retired now and still she her on occasion.
She always makes a big deal and hugs me.
She'd forgotten her pager and didn't go back to get it thinking what are the chances they'll call tonight......
Image credits: Steveg27
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