Question about fear and hero’s

[Meditationdude]

I was talking with a buddy yesterday, explaining to him what it’s like to raise your awareness and consciousness through mediation and all these actualized.org practices, etc.. 

He asked me a question that I couldn’t answer. Wondering what some of your take is on this. 
 

(context: we were discussing fear and the ego) ... “is someone like a hero in the moment they do something completely selfless with no regard to their personal lives experiencing a form of ego death or higher states of consciousness?” 

An example he used was a teacher using himself as a shield to save kids from a shooter. Or something along those lines. Whats the difference between them and say a firefighter?
 

What do you think?