A story published in Monday's STAR showed that a little determination goes a long way, no matter how tough a situation you are in.

According to the article, a security guard, though shot and injured pulled through and handed over an illegal weapon to the police after getting the weapon from one of two men who attempted to rob him.

Surely, many may argue that the guard might have made a silly move in not thinking to attend to his wounds first, but since he did not and is still alive, it proved not to be such a foolish act after all.

The story further mentioned that one of the armed thugs was fatally shot during a gun battle which ensued after the guard did not comply with their demands for money.

This makes him a hero not once but twice.

How much braver could he have been?

The guard's show of courage and discipline is truly one to be admired.

Can you imagine if there were persons like him in Jamaica? Without question, criminals, who so often force us citizens to cower in fear, would have a tough fight on their hands.

Over and over again we have been urged to take a stand against crime and violence which continue to plague the nation. However, these pleas seemingly go unnoticed and so we continue to be plagued.

Nevertheless, where there is life, there is hope and, since at least one person has showed us that it can be done, some of us can at least try to mould our minds to trying to make our country a better one by becoming a hindrance to criminals and their actions.