"James"

When I was in 6^th grade at west middle school in Binghamton, I had a classmate who we will call “James”. I don’t want to use his real name because I haven’t asked him if it’s ok to write this story. I’m sure that some people will know who James is by the story, and that’s ok. This story is exactly what happened from my viewpoint and what I remember about it. It is exactly what I witnessed and every word of it is true.

            James was a really, really bad kid in school. He was one of the biggest kids in our grade and he could be a real bully at times. The kid just seemed to always be in a bad mood, it was as if he was mad at the world. Throughout that school year, the kid was really spiraling out of control. I remember one day in home economics class, James punched another student in the face several times and broke his glasses. When the student had fallen to the ground, James had stomped on his stomach several times. The teacher had tried to break it up before the kid got beat up so bad, but she was scared of James too I think.

            Unfortunately, James was in most of my classes. I never had any problems with him, but he was a good person to try to avoid. A few months later we had a substitute teacher for our reading class. The next day when our normal teacher had returned, she told us that somebody had stolen the substitute teacher’s wallet from her purse. Apparently, the substitute was certain that she had her wallet before our class and that it was missing after. So, the teacher demanded to know who was responsible, but of course nobody confessed. The next day I learned that they somehow found out that it was James. Somebody said that he threw all her credit cards into the river and kept all the cash. I heard that they had found some type of proof and he ultimately confessed and was suspended for several days.

            Now, there were a ton of really bad kids at that school. I wouldn’t say that James would be voted the worst or “most troubled” kid in the school, but he was definitely on the ballot. All of the staff was aware of his behavior issues and they didn’t want him in their class, but that was all about to change.

            One day James was walking over a bridge on the south side of Binghamton when he seen something floating down the river. James climbed over the railing and jumped off the bridge and into the river. Apparently some passer-byers had seen James jump off the bridge and ran to see what he was doing. 

            James had landed in the water and made his way over to a toddler who was floating down the river face down. When he picked up the toddler, his face was completely blue and swollen. James made his way to the shore with the toddler in his arms. I believe that one of the people who had stopped when they seen him jump was a nurse or some type of medical professional. James met them on the shore and passed the toddler off. They began to administer CPR immediately and the child was rushed to the emergency room of the hospital close by. I guess it was some type of miracle, but they were able to save the childs life. And with that …a hero was born.

            The next day, The Press & Sun Bulletin featured a 2 or 3 page cover story which chronicled this hero, James. It had an in-depth article which explained how the toddler had fallen into the river near his home. There were maps that showed where everything had occurred exactly, and an approximate timeline of events. It explained the severity of the situation as well as several first-hand accounts of the sheer bravery and courage of James.

            When we went back to school, the morning announcements acknowledged that we had a hero amongst us. James walked through the halls of that middle school as a true celebrity. He was a saint in disguise; he was the favorite student of all the teachers in the school.

            It was amazing how the perception of James had literally done a 180 over night. After his act of heroism, teachers began to treat him with the utmost amount of respect. As a result, the behavior of James had also made a remarkable change. His attitude changed completely, he stopped fighting and acting up in classes. But perhaps the most impressive change was the fact that James had begun to wear a smile at all times. It was as if the life he saved had ended up saving his own in a way.