Ivan was a hero.

He was a hero to various people, for various things… Most people admired him for his outstanding character and integrity…and his humility. Most knew him for how well he bore the burden of cancer – and that was what made him stand out the most, cancer wasn’t a burden to Ivan. No one would go as far as to call it a blessing or define it in any positive terms…but to Ivan it was nothing more than a challenge. His whole life was about conquering challenges and defeating adversity. People knew this about him and expected it. They depended on it.

One night in October of our junior year of high school I was at Ivan’s house. We had been up with the boys, as usual, and after they had left Ivan and I fell asleep on the couch in his room while watching a movie. This was usual.

Having someone frantically ringing his doorbell at three in the morning was unusual.

Ivan woke up, which woke me up. We staggered into the front room and Ivan peered through the window at the top of the door. Moments later Ivan’s mom came out in her robe and joined us.

Ivan looked worried as he stepped back to unlock and open the door. He invited the girl in and asked her what was wrong.

The girl, who I recognized as a lab partner Ivan had worked with in biology the year before, was quite distressed and having a difficult time calming down enough to speak.

Ivan took her hand and led her to the couch where he directed her to sit. He sat down also, but gave her plenty of space.

As this was happening I was searching my memory for what Ivan had told me about her, and trying to figure out why she would be here. That was when I caught what she had been trying to say.

“He raped me.”

Immediately I recalled Ivan telling me how she was involved with a real jerk of a guy and how much it worried him. He had tried desperately to talk her out of the relationship, or to offer her alternatives, but she always refuse saying she would be fine.

But now she was here. I recalled who her boyfriend was and realized he only lived a few blocks away. Ivan’s house must have been the closest safe place.

Heather immediately offered to call the police, but the girl refused. Ivan suggested taking her to the hospital and after several prompts she reluctantly agreed.

As he changed clothes to drive her over he told his mother who the boy was and to call the police as soon as they left. She agreed and Ivan and I took the girl to the hospital.

Ivan and I stayed with her for support until her parents arrived. When we got back to his house a policeman was just finishing talking to Heather and then he took our statements. It was about an hour before he left.

Later that week, at school, word had gotten around about “Jane,” but not that she had first gone to Ivan for help. The rumor was that she had knocked on a stranger’s door.

At the end of one particular school day Ivan and I were walking down a hall to meet up with the boys when we passed by a group of guys. Ivan overheard their snickers and recognized their “leader” as the best friend of “Jane’s” attacker. All I heard him say was, “Dumb bitch had it coming…”

Ivan all but leaped on him. He pushed through the two guys standing in front of “Joe” and punched “Joe” right in the face. He intended to hit him again but “Joe” ducked and Ivan’s hand collided with a locker instead. “Joe” shoved Ivan hard and Ivan hit the floor, landing on the hand that had punched both a face and a locker.

Before more damage could be done some teachers had come out of their rooms and broke up the fight. Ivan and “Joe” ended up in the principal’s office, with the whole parental scene.

Once the parents and administrators heard about what had started the fight they decided to “go easy” on Ivan. They suspended him for a week and sent him hospital for his hand; two fingers had been broken. Ivan’s real punishment would be not playing the piano for six weeks.

The other boy was not punished because he was defending himself. The boy’s parents decline to press charges because they felt their son deserved it, based on his comments.

It was a cruel justice.

This is the one and only time I have ever seen Ivan be truly angry. And it is definitely the only time I have ever seen him be violent. But it still speaks for his character. His friend had been severely harmed. She had no one to speak for her. Though he chose an unconventional way of speaking, it no doubt symbolized the anger he felt over the entire incident.

I have no doubt that he would act similarly for any of his friends, should they be need of defense, because that’s just who he was. A hero.

Though he might not have literally saved anyone, he certainly helped many of the people he knew. Everyone is indebted to him for that. And I know he’ll always be my hero.