Jim O’Connor is a strict Vietnam veteran and tenured math teacher whom you don’t want to mess with.
He sports a short, military-style haircut and has sharp, watchful eyes that regularly scan his classroom.
At St-Francis High School in La Canada, California, USA, he’s known for never putting up with rowdiness or restlesness in his classroom.
Some students might even describe him as a bit of a “drudge” — and teacher Jim in fact seems to have no problem with that description.
“It drives me crazy when people say school should be fun,” he tells CBS Evening News.
“It’s nice if it could be, but you can’t make school fun.”
But it turns out that Jim’s strict demeanor had everyone fooled… and news eventually got out about his ‘alter ego’.
It turns out that Jim O’Connor was not only a regular blood donor — he held the record at LA Children’s hospital for amount of blood donated.
But that’s not all.
When he’s not donating blood or teaching calculus, he’s cuddling sick babies.
Yes, you read right. Three days a week for the last twenty years, Jim has been volunteering at the hospital, stepping in when parents can’t to hold, feed and comfort their children.
“They tend to calm for him, they tend to relax with him, fall asleep with him,” nurse Aaron Shmidt said.
Jim has never married and doesn’t have a family of his own… and the tough guy is not what you imagined.
“I really like them and relate to them somehow,” he said.
Watch the news report below about this extraordinary man.
A beautiful tribute to a very special man! He is a blessing for many families. He has to be tough with the kids he teaches, but has a soft heart for babies. God bless him.
Share if you agree the world could use more Jims in our world.