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Feb 13, 2007

"Only to the extent that someone is living out this self transcendence of human existence is he truly human or does he become his true self. He becomes so, not by concerning himself with his self's actualization, but by forgetting himself and giving himself, overlooking himself and focusing outward." --Viktor Frankl

A Hero Twice Over

When Michael Keenan ran into a burning building to save a dog -- a dog that didn't even belong to him in a home where he didn't live -- he ended up saving a life, but also ended up in serious condition with only a 50% chance of survival. Friends and family weren't surprised: he had already proven himself a hero six years earlier when he jumped into San Francisco Bay to save two strangers who had driven their car into 50 degree water. He knocked out the back window of their fully submerged car and was able to pull one of the two to safety. "It's just part of his nature," said Frank Hsieh, a San Francisco firefighter who has known Keenan for about 20 years. "He's selfless. The guy's a total hero."