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
Very early in my career as a criminal defense attorney, I had a black college student charged with a shooting. It was getting a lot of media statewide due to one of the people involved being a professional athlete. After investigating, I became convinced that he was innocent and the actual shooter was probably one of the state's primary witnesses. I had only had a few jury trials at that point and they all were defendants that were guilty as hell but refused to plead out. I didn't have a ton of faith in either a jury or my own ability to handle the case/consequences.
I worked my a*s off in preparation. Once we started trial, I realized I was knocking down every piece of evidence that the state was presenting. I was pumped with adrenaline and growing confidence. I tore up their star witness, who I thought was probably the actual shooter. One of the jurors actually laughed at the guy in disbelief of some of the things he was testifying to. I gave a thirty minute closing argument without even looking at my notes with the jury nodding along to everything I was saying. They were out 20 minutes and came back with a not guilty verdict. Front page news article in the biggest papers in the state. Client's mom is hugging me a crying with relief in one of the photos.
That guy still calls me up once a year to check in. Married, kids, solid white collar job. I always think of that case when I start to have doubts about doing defense work.
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605points
Many children grow up dreaming about being firefighters, doctors, lawyers or teachers, but in reality, these career paths are no walk in the park. They can often be high-stress jobs, and they can take a huge toll on the emotional state of the professionals who enter these fields. When every day at work you have to help out someone who is having the worst day of their life, it can be hard to step away from that emotional state when the day ends. But occasionally, these individuals get lucky. Once in a blue moon, or perhaps only once in their entire career, these heroes get to have a day that stands out as being extremely positive or impactful.
The stories on this list may still sound overwhelming and stressful to those of us who don’t work in life-saving situations, but it really puts things into perspective to know that they were the best days for these professionals. Unfortunately, we will all at one point or another be in a situation where we require help from the people in these fields, so let’s take a moment to appreciate them and honor their stories.
#2
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.
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457points
#3
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.
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452points
To gain some insight into what it's really like to work in one of these high-stress professions, we reached out to Justin Schorr. Justin is a second generation firefighter and paramedic with 28 years experience serving various urban, suburban and urban neighborhoods. He is ARFF certified and currently serves as a Paramedic Captain with a San Francisco Bay Area Fire Department. First, we wanted to know what inspired Justin to get into this field in the first place. "My father was a firefighter so I naturally gravitated towards this line of work," he told Bored Panda. "However, as an EMT in rural New Mexico, I had a patient I couldn't help because I didn't have the right training so I applied to Paramedic School."
"The average day starts with a rigorous check of our equipment and supplies," Justin explained. "Then a briefing from the Captain about local events, road closures, hospital issues, etc. Then it's off to our post based on the needs of the system. Dispatch will move us and the other ambulances around to try to reduce response times. We'll respond to calls for service, meeting some people on their worst day and try to make that bad day better. 12 hours later, if we're lucky, we can go home."
#4
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.
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442points
We also asked Justin if one particular day stands out to him as the best one in his career. "There are several good days, and luckily they outnumber the bad ones," he shared. "I recall one particular day I was working at the international airport and we were called for a cardiac arrest on the top floor of a large building in the air train station. On scene, a 15 year old was doing CPR on his father and I quickly dragged his dad off the train into the rental car lobby full of people and took over CPR. I used my cardiac monitor to shock his heart back into a good rhythm and the ambulance later took them all to the hospital. Later that day at the hospital I saw the boy, and he told me his dad was awake and would be okay."
#5
I volunteer at a nursery sometimes. This one kid (about six) came in with bruises up and down his arms. He was acting jumpy, and asked me to follow him. He brought me into an empty classroom, and pulled down his pants. There were gruesome burns and whip marks up and down his legs and buttocks. I called the cops, and when the kid was told that his mother would never hurt him again the smile on his face made my f*****g day.
Excuse me while I go cry in the corner.
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426points
We also asked Justin if there were any misconceptions about his line of work that he would like to dispel. "So many... But the biggest misconception is that if paramedics arrive on scene and transport you to a hospital in an ambulance, it means you will be seen at the hospital quicker or mean more in an accident case or something," Justin explained. "If we tell you that maybe you could wait or go on your own, listen to our advice."
He also added, "Paramedics and EMTs are going through a very rough time coming out of the pandemic where people ignored basic hygiene. They are tired and the system stressed to the breaking point. Also, learn CPR with a friend. You never know when they'll need it."
If you'd like to hear more stories from Justin, be sure to check out his blog The Happy Medic right here.
#6
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.
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
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422points
#7
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.
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415points
#8
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.
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408points
#9
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.
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397points
#10
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.
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363points
#11
My best day was also one of my worst days when I worked at Apple. Years ago, a lady came into the Apple Store in her pajamas and looked like a mess. She was crying, cursing and just beyond frustrated. My Manager knew I loved dealing with difficult people (I have no idea why I do), so I got paired with this lady. She tore me apart like all the other employees she talked to. After slowly calming her down I found she dropped her iPhone 4 in the tub and the phone had photos of her baby who passed away from complications. The iPhone would not turn on and water was seen moving in the display.
Now, policy back then was to just replace the phone no questions asked. While this was my option, she also had no backup of her photos and this was before iCloud. I worked with water damage before outside of Apple and wanted to give this a go. I requested to clock out (Apple did not support repairs like this and I knew I would never in a million years get the OK to work on this on company time...) and began working with my own tools and with lots of alcohol. It took about 3 hours, and I was successful to get it to turn on to the point where we could get the phone on and transfer to her replacement via the Bump (or Bumped?) app.
I got to see the photos of her baby and she cried on me for some time. She went back to the store and apologized to everyone, she was living in a Hell since the baby's passing. My store leader heard the story and called me in her office. Thinking I was in trouble, she let me have some extra Steve days (those were like personal days off) and bought me a great lunch to thank me as well as replaced the time on my timecard.
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320points
#12
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
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304points
#13
I work at a public library. I was at the information desk one day when a patron came in asking to use our printer. I helped her print out some immigration documents and as we were walking back to the desk, saw her look around at all of the books and DVDs. She asked me quietly how much a library "membership" was. When I explained everything was free, she started to tear up. She got her first library card that day. I would see her all the time. She started taking advantage of the English language classes we offered and regularly thanked me for the "free membership" :) Working at public libraries is tough but periodically it is so worth it.
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297points
#14
Bear with me--- I was a case manager for mentally ill adults. I knew things were tough for this lady, we'll call her Z. She and I were in our mid 20's. When I showed up for our meeting, she had a clear hand shaped bruise on her face. And bruises around her neck. She cried when she saw my face, reacting. Neighbors had called the police. They made him leave, but said it was "he said, she said". She needed a clearer report to get to a shelter on an emergency basis.
She was scared, but we went down to the precinct to make a report. On the way, I wanted to buy her breakfast. Z started crying again, because it was hard for her to decide what she wanted because she was so unused to making even that small choice. Oh, and she told me that he had r***d her once he came back after the police later that night....
The desk officer initially said that he couldn't do anything, because the report said that it was purely verbal. I am an angry crier, so I then burst into tears and angrily tell him to LOOK at the f*****g HANDPRINT on her face and the bruises on her neck. I tell him more quietly that there is more..... He gets a DV specialist, and a chief from the county happened to be there. And he happened to be a family friend. And he fixed things. We got the right report. And I take Z off to a hospital.
I call work to tell them what's going on and ask them to cancel the rest of my day. My supervisor has the f*****g nerve to tell me not to get too invested because I know that it's likely she'll just go back. I hung up on her. I had no idea, but a co-worker over heard this and went to our director.
I sat in the ER with Z and made plans for her future. What she wanted for dinner, what color blanket she would want for her new room. What her dream vacation would be. I held her hand while they did the rape kit.
Throughout the day I had been calling and working with a DV shelter. They picked her up from the hospital and promised me they had clothes and bedding for her. I went home and cried and cried.
The next day I was ready to escalate to my director, but found she already knew. She had flowers and apologies for me. My supervisor gave me a full apology as well.
Z never went back. I ran into her, and her very nice husband and adorable son about 10 years after. She had gotten her GED. She was working on her BA. She was safe.
On my very bad no good days when I am just destroyed, I remember that day. I was young and it was so hard and she was so hurt and broken. We kept going, together. It mattered.
Edit- Just to say, it would have mattered terribly and been entirely worth it even if she had gone back that very day. To be with her and support her as she did one of the hardest things a person can do -telling in the face of her fear and (undeserved) shame- that was a privilege. I don't want anyone to think that they somehow wouldn't be worth this and million times more if they couldn't leave....
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293points
#15
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.
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291points
#16
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.
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280points
#17
Mine is kind of lame compared to the others but I worked at Kay Jewelers and we had a young man who had put a ring on layaway when I had first started, he diligently came in every 2 weeks to pay off the ring for almost 8 months. On his final payment he brought his girlfriend in to "ring shop" and she picked the exact ring he'd placed on hold so long ago. He said let's buy it and she got so red and said there is no way we can afford that. He went to the counter leaving her with me to look at other stuff. He came back and proposed to her right there in the store and she cried and said yes. It was so adorable and they came back about a year later to pick out a band for the wedding. The best part was the two of them had been working hard and got promoted at their jobs and he bought the new ring out right.
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264points
#18
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.
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262points
#19
Paramedic here. My best ever job was on a hot summers day in Australia, we were called to an 11 year old boy that had drowned in his family pool. I was halfway through a foot-long meatball sub when it happened and damn near s**t myself. We were about 5 minutes away, and when we arrived the boy's mother was providing CPR while his 8 year old twin sisters watched on, horrified. I check the carotid pulse (non-existent) and started to take over on compressions, my partner started to unpack the defib pads while our student toweled the kid off. Defib comes back showing Ventricular Tachycardia (one of the only two shockable rhythms), so we hit him with the lightning and he instantly went back into a sinus rhythm (normal heart rhythm). Kid then began to splutter, we rolled in him into the recovery position to help him get the water out of his lungs. In such a high octane situation, it honestly felt so good to be able to successfully revive somebody. I still think about that job any time that I wonder why I'm in this profession.
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254points
#20
I used to work at an animal shelter and honestly had a lot of good days to pair with the bad ones. One of the coolest things I can remember happening was a family came looking to adopt a cat. We had a cat that was having a tough time getting adopted so he got to roam free in the shelter to schmooze with people. Well this family encounters the cat and they don’t just fall in love, they had a huge sigh of relief. The shelter cat was their cat that went missing 5 years before hand. They instantly recognized him and immediately readopted him. It was a really neat twist of fate.
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245points