Everyday Heroes: A report from Tucson

"Piers Morgan Tonight" Editorial Producer Andrea Lewis reports from Tucson:

In the wake of tragedy ordinary people do extraordinary things. They run towards bullets to tackle gunmen. They jump in front of bullets to save people they have never met. They stop the bleeding and hold each other's hands while the world spins out of control around them. I was privileged enough to meet many of the everyday heroes of last Saturday's tragic shooting in Arizona this week.

First there was Daniel Hernandez, who had come to work for the Giffords’ campaign only five days ago.

He had nurse training and was able to immediately tend to Rep. Giffords. He stopped the blood flowing from Giffords’ head until the ambulance arrived and stayed by her side until she was safely at the hospital. Daniel is the most humble and gracious person you will ever meet. In the past week he has done over 200 interviews, accommodating every request possible. Everywhere he goes a crowd follows. In between interviews Daniel takes the time to shake every admirer's hand and take a photo with every person who asks. Daniel is running for student body President of the University of Arizona. I cannot imagine anyone would want to run against him and I predict you will see a lot more of Daniel Hernandez in public life in the future. (Daniel is also a self-proclaimed Anglophile who loved Piers' interview with Cheryl Cole.)

Patricia Maisch, the petite 61-year-old woman who grabbed the magazine cartridge from the gunman, was one of the smallest and strongest people I have ever met. The President paid tribute to her in his speech Wednesday. Her son, who was snowboarding nearby on the day of the shooting, accompanied her to every interview. He talked about her heroism with tears in his eyes. The first night I met the two of them, they spent half an hour standing silently holding each other in front of the memorial that had been growing outside of the hospital.

24-year-old Joe Zamudio legally carries a gun everywhere he goes. By the time he arrived on the scene the gunman had already been tackled but he helped hold him to the ground. His mother came with him to his interviews. She was so proud of him. She watched with tears in her eyes as he recounted his experience to CNN viewers. During the interview she turned to me and told me that things need to change in this country, a sentiment shared by many.

Mary Reed’s daughter Emma McMahon had worked for Rep. Giffords as a Congressional page. Mary was shot while standing next to her daughter Emma McMahon. She summoned the strength to come for an interview soon after she was released from the hospital. You could still see the bullets in her arm. She said they were souvenirs from a day she could never forget. Her family stood by her side and recounted those horrible moments. Emma smiled to everyone and stood strong for her mother.

Perhaps the person that everyone will remember the most from this tragedy is Christina Taylor-Green. Nobody will forget the face of the 9-year-old girl who was born on 9/11/01 and died during this senseless tragedy. It was her dream to be a politician and she was well on her way. The Green family met with President Obama and then came straight to CNN for an interview. You could see the pain on their eyes. Christina's 11-year-old brother Dallas was in shock as he talked about his sister. He was shy and his family joked that he still owed Michelle Obama a hug. Roxanna and John Green were incredibly strong. They spoke with such eloquence about the daughter they loved so much. They said they were comforted by their visit with the President and the First Lady but they did not stay in the arena to watch the speech. Instead, they held a private rosary for their daughter who would be buried the next day.

The shooting claimed six lives and injured at least 13 others. Rep. Giffords was the most seriously injured and she is now responding, holding her husband's wedding ring, yawning and rubbing her eyes, giving everyone hope that she will make a full recovery. Jan 8, 2011 was a day nobody in the tight community of Tucson will forget. But there are so many lessons to come out of the tragedy in Tucson: The people who survived that day have taught me about how to love, how to live, how to forgive and how lucky we all are to be here. I'm thankful for my time with each of these amazing American heroes.

(Photo courtesy of Andrea Lewis)