Finally! At long last, in this crazy world of extreme tragedy, crisis and division, finally we as a nation, as a globe, have something on which we can agree: The Australian man who punched a shark to save his wife is dreamy.

I am sure by now you’ve seen the story, yes? OK, if not, a couple were surfing in the waters off Australia (and, of course it’s Australia), when a large great white shark bit onto the leg of the woman. Her husband, hearing her cry out, immediately paddled over to her board, jumped onto the back of the shark and began to punch it about the snout until it released its grip. Wow.

This story perhaps feels a little close to home right now. We in Maine have experienced our first-ever recorded shark attack fatality. Tragically, there was nothing anyone could possibly have done to save the life of the victim. I am sure all of our hearts go out to the victim’s family. I would be remiss, however, if I didn’t note that in the moment, two complete strangers did their very best. Already on shore, they ran back into their kayaks and paddled out to try and save people they did not even know. Wow.

These events have had me thinking: What is it that is hardwired into some people to run towards danger to save another?

Sharks are one of the archetypal dangers. They are right up there with fire, snakes, maybe spiders? Things we as a species instinctively fear. We might know intellectually that sharks are a vital, essential part of a healthy ocean ecosystem, but that doesn’t mean that the sight of a fin slicing the water won’t raise our pulse rate. This is why we set policy and protocol in moments of calm reflection to guide us through the actual crisis when and if it arrives.

I suppose we can add disease and plague to the list of fears. Rightly so. And again, we see stunning examples of people willingly putting themselves into the path of danger to save a stranger.

The shark-punching husband for sure has earned his headline news, but so has every firefighter who answers the call, every ER doctor and nurse who shows up for their shift, every crew member working to restore power after storms. All of these everyday heroes (and quite a few more besides) show up and put their lives on the line for us.

Astounding.

Set against this background, it is even more bewildering then, that there are also folks out there who still refuse to wear a mask. Really? In a world of shark-punching husbands, a piece of fabric across your nose and mouth – seriously folks, under the nose doesn’t help at all – is too much to ask?

The evidence is in: Masks help. In fact, there is significant data that if we’d all just wear one when out and about, we could finally get a grip on this virus. With well over 173,000 deaths in our country alone, this is not a trivial request.

So we can choose. We can either look the other way and refuse to join the fight to defeat this deadly virus or we can heed the call, wash our hands, keep our distance and put on our masks. Be a hero.

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