Are we ever too old for heroes? I hope not. But as we age, the number of fellow human beings of whom we remain in awe and respect beyond any normal measure decreases.

Sometimes to zero.

World weariness makes us more fearful of being let down, of being disappointed by exposure of our favorite superstars’ frailties.

So whenever we can we remind children that the real heroes are not the athletes and the other entertainers, but our family, our teachers, and the first responders. The people who nurtured us, and those who maybe don’t even know us but keep us out of harm’s way. The police, the paramedics, the firefighters, the military.

And the lifeguards.

Eddie Aikau was a sports hero, certainly. He was one of the greatest big-wave surfers ever.

But as ESPN’s "30 for 30" documentary, "Hawaiian: The Legend of Eddie Aikau" reminds us, Aikau transcended sports like no other athlete in the islands’ history.

Aikau was a great competitor who won some and lost some contests as a surfer, but he had a perfect record in what really mattered: 500-0. It’s estimated that’s how many distressed swimmers he pulled out of the North Shore waters as a lifeguard, without one ever dying on his watch.

If that’s not enough, there’s the way he died — or at least disappeared — attempting to paddle more than 10 miles to shore for help as the Hawaiian voyaging canoe Hokule‘a sat capsized in the Kaiwi Channel, the rest of the crew clinging to the hull.

He was 31 when this happened in 1978; we can only wonder what additional positive impact Aikau would have made on surfing and Hawaiians if he’d lived.

He wasn’t just a man who was great in the water; he was a peacemaker. The brash style of talented Australians Rabbit Bartholomew and Ian Cairns did not play well on the North Shore and Bartholomew was beaten on the beach by locals. When they received death threats, Aikau held a successful ho‘oponopono.

Aikau’s intervention might have saved the future of the sport.

"What would’ve happened if Eddie didn’t step in?" asked Shaun Tomson, the former world champion from South Africa, pointing out that at the time of the incident in 1977 the fledgling pro surfing tour did not need controversy and violence.

Bartholomew’s reverent words about Aikau provide some of the most telling moments of the documentary. So do the interviews with the Aikau family, Hokule‘a navigator and captain Nainoa Thompson, and others who bring the legend back to life.

Aikau’s rise in prominence in the surfing world coincided with the Hawaiian renaissance of the 1970s. And he was one of its key figures, whether carving out a place on the big waves and in contests for Hawaiians where Californians had taken over, or helping prove that Polynesians navigated to Hawaii and didn’t hit the islands by luck.

He lost his life in the latter pursuit while trying to save his crewmates, in an endeavor that has helped perpetuate his culture.

Even if you think you know the story of Eddie Aikau, watch this beautiful documentary and re-acquaint. Watch it with your keiki, and introduce them to a true hero who will never let them down.