I don't know if he had kids or not ... but I have four and still would rather that they considered their father a hero than "that guy who wouldn't do anything". I have good life insurance because there are plenty of instant ways to go.
I think that it’s important to try to help other people, but your safety is also important. For example it’s common that to rescue one person is drowning, more than one person attempts a rescue and all of then get drowned. You must learn how to proceed in those cases to be helpfull.
A few years ago I did a first aid mini-course. It was mostly about CPR and how to act in case of fire and chemical splits. The guide emphasized that the security of the rescuers is important. For example that before entering a door, you must check that the door will not close and trap you inside the dangerous place. Or make sure that the place you enter don’t have toxic fumes.
I agree that you need to be trained ... classes that teach life-guarding skills are essential around water, basic and advanced first aid, mountaineering, wilderness survival. You also need to be physically fit enough to do what you're contemplating (and more importantly ... know your own limits). I'm not going into details (it's not the point of my original comment) but learning these skills has been worthwhile.
Good lord. There's a huge range of options in between dead hero and "that guy who wouldn't do anything". You might, for example, bail out at some point after trying to help, and you should be allowed to make that decision without being equated to an idle bystander in any way.
You'd have them think that a stranger was more important to you than them? I don't think I'd ever give up my own life for a stranger's. Even the thought of my six-year-old son trying to cope with that news is pretty unbearable.
