‘Hero’ – It’s a word that gets tossed around a lot these days but do we know the true meaning of the word?

Some people’s image of a hero is their favourite football player or actor, or a superhero like Batman or Superman. But real heroes do not earn £20,000 a week or wear underpants over their tights, (people like this are ‘idols’, not heroes) they are normal people who work in hospitals, who work in hospitals, who are in police force, the fire brigade or fight for peoples rights.

Take Rosa Parks as an example; a black woman, who was as normal as you or me, in 1950’s America, got on a bus and refused to move when a when a white person told her to get off her seat. She is a hero because she took the first steps towards equal rights in America.

I was lucky enough to meet Sello Hatang who is, in my eyes, a hero. He lived through the Apartheid in South Africa and is one of Nelson Mandela’s colleagues at the Nelson Mandela Foundation. His job is to talk to people, especially the younger generation, about his experiences and what Nelson Mandela went through. He told us he travels all around the world telling his story about the Apartheid. His courage and ability to speak out was amazing and he really inspired me as I’m sure he has many others.

What impressed me about nelson Mandela was his ability to forgive. He spent years in prison and came out eager to change things and forgive those who had suppressed them. He led and inspired people which eventually led to change in South Africa. As he said, ‘For to be free is

not merely to cast off one’s chains but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.’
He wanted to be free and not be angry at the people who had imprisoned him. He was the first black president of South Africa at the end of the Apartheid and he started the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. He is a true hero, not Wayne Rooney or Lionel Messi.

There are lots of unsung heroes in our own communities who don’t get enough recognition. People like school janitors or cleaners, doctors and nurses, teachers, firemen policemen and so much more! Their jobs are far from easy and they all help you and me in lots of different ways. Take a moment to imagine life without any of them – it doesn’t look very promising!

You can be a hero just by helping do the dishes after dinner, picking litter in the street, forgiving your friend after falling out or even saying ‘please’ and ‘thank you’, it starts with things as easy and simple as that!

You don’t have to be rich and famous to be a hero, you should be helpful, caring and forgiving and that makes you a hero in your own life.