She had been in labor for days. Thirteen midwives came to help, but none of them could deliver the baby.

Jacob, who was used to helping animals give birth, decided to try to save his wife. He had learned a lot from his job and had done similar surgeries on animals like pigs, cows, horses, dogs, and sheep.

Back then, pig castrators would sometimes do C-sections on animals if they thought the mother might die, just to save the baby. Midwives also knew about the method, but in the early 1500s, C-sections were only allowed if the mother had already died.

What we now do—saving the mother, even if the baby might not survive—was not allowed at that time.

Jacob was out of options and desperate. He got special permission from the authorities to do the surgery on his wife, even though she was still alive.

He used a simple razor blade to cut her open. Amazingly, both his wife and their baby survived.

Even more incredible—she later gave birth to five more children naturally. That means Jacob must have stitched her up really well.

Because of his bravery, he didn’t just save his family. He opened the door to modern C-sections that have saved millions of lives since.

In February 1984, 11-year-old Jody Plauché was kidnapped and sexually-assaulted by his karate teacher, Jeff Doucet.

Stolen away from his Baton Rouge home and held prisoner in a California hotel room, he endured several days of horrific abuse before police tracked him and his kidnapper down and returned him safely to his dad, Gary Plauché. But Jody's ordeal wasn't over — and his father wanted revenge.

On March 16, 1984, Doucet was being walked through the Baton Rouge Metropolitan Airport to be handed over to Louisiana authorities. Gary Plauché, hiding behind sunglasses and a baseball cap, stood in wait, then suddenly stepped forward and shot Doucet in the head at point-blank range — all while local news cameras were rolling.