VADNAIS HEIGHTS, Minn. - Some of Minnesota's real-life superheroes were honored Thursday at the annual State Patrol Awards Ceremony. The stories are amazing.
Everything from Deno Yannarelli who saved a man on fire, to Sheldon Haskins who rescued a woman involved in a car accident.
"This is one of the proudest moments of my life," says Haskins.
How does someone honored for performing a heroic act define a hero? We decided to ask.
"You put the other person first. That's a hero, I would say," Haskins says.
"I think that's what you're supposed to do, is help each other out. I was in the right spot at the right time and was able to lend a hand. I don't consider myself a hero," says Jerry Amaral, who rescued a person involved in a motorcycle accident.
"I'm not a hero, I just did what anybody would do. The man was in trouble. I was there. I helped," says Yannarelli.
"I think you pray for god's gifts and abilities at the time you need them and you don't know until you're actually in that situation how you're going to handle it. When you see a bad situation you just want to make sure you make good choices so you don't make anything worse. You just want to help the people because many times they're often helpless," says Jay Tyrrell, who rescued a girl involved in a car accident.
"There's so many ways you can define that, so many different scenarios," says State Trooper Ellissa Schmidt. Schmidt was honored for keeping a hunter from bleeding to death. "People tell us we're heroes for just going to work every day," she says.
"I think the best way to define a hero is someone that just absolutely doesn't think about their own safety and doesn't hesitate for a minute to jump in and help someone else," says Minnesota State Patrol Chief Matt Langer.