This Day in History: One of the first widely publicized stories of "hysterical strength" happened on this day (April 24) in 1960 in Tampa, Florida, when Mrs. Florence Rogers, a 123-pound woman, lifted one end of a 3,600-pound car that had fallen off of a jack and onto her 16-year-old son, Charles Trotter. Mrs. Rogers, an LPN, fractured several vertebrae in the process.
Hysterical strength refers to a display of extreme physical strength by humans, beyond what is believed to be normal, usually occurring when people are in, or perceive themselves to be in life-or-death situations.
Other examples are:
18th of March 1915, Corporal Seyit Çabuk lifted bombshells that weighed 608 lb in the Gallipoli Campaign.
Before May 1962, Jack Kirby claims a woman lifted a car off her baby, which inspired him to create the Hulk.
In 1982, in Lawrenceville, Georgia, Tony Cavallo was repairing a 1964 Chevrolet Impala automobile from underneath when the vehicle fell off the jacks on which it was propped, trapping him underneath. Cavallo's mother, Mrs. Angela Cavallo, lifted the car high enough and long enough for two neighbors to replace the jacks and pull Tony from beneath the car.
In 1988, in Waialua, Hawaii, while working a construction contract two weeks after filming the finale for the television show Magnum P.I., pilot and Vietnam Veteran Steve Kux lost control of his Hughes 500D helicopter and crashed into a drainage ditch. His coworker, Warren Everal (also known as "Tiny") lifted the 1,400 pound helicopter enough to allow another person to remove Kux from the cockpit.
In 2006, Ivujivik, Quebec, resident Lydia Angiyou saved several children by fighting a polar bear until a local hunter shot the bear.
In 2006, in Tucson, Arizona, Tom Boyle watched as a Chevrolet Camaro hit 18-year-old Kyle Holtrust. The car pinned Holtrust, still alive, underneath. Boyle lifted the Camaro off the teenager, while the driver of the car pulled the teen to safety.
In 2009, in Ottawa, Kansas, 5 ft 7, 185 lb) Nick Harris lifted a Mercury sedan to help a 6-year-old girl pinned beneath.
In 2009, in Newport, Wales, Donna McNamee, Abigail Sicolo, and Anthony McNamee lifted a 1.1 ton Renault Clio off an 8-year-old boy.
In 2011, in Tampa, Florida, 6 ft 3 in, 295 lb University of South Florida college football player Danous Estenor lifted a 3,500 lb car off a man who had been caught underneath. The man was a tow truck driver who had been pinned under the rear tire of a 1990 Cadillac Seville, which had lurched forward as he worked underneath it. The man suffered only minor injuries.
In 2012, in Glen Allen, Virginia, 22-year-old Lauren Kornacki rescued her father, Alec Kornacki, after the jack used to prop up his BMW slipped, pinning him under it. Lauren lifted the car, then performed CPR on her father and saved his life.
In 2012, in Michigan, Austin Smith (age 15) lifted a car to save his grandfather pinned underneath.
In 2013, in Oregon, teenage sisters Hannah (age 16) and Haylee (age 14) lifted a tractor to save their father pinned underneath.
In 2013, in Salvage, Newfoundland and Labrador, Cecil Stuckless, a 72-year-old man lifted a Jeep to save his son-in-law pinned underneath.
In 2015, in St. John's, Newfoundland, Nick Williams lifted a four-wheel-drive vehicle to save a young boy pinned beneath its tire.
In 2017, in Temple Terrace, Florida, Kenny Franklin, lifted an SUV from a state trooper after an accident.
In 2019, in Ohio, Zac Clark, a 16-year-old football player, lifted a 3,000 lb car when he heard his neighbor call for help.
