which is the right thing to do?

It was a sunny day. A young man was boarding a ship back to his hometown. He was in his last year of the university. He decided to go back home to visit his family before concentrating on his thesis. He looked outside the window, at the blue sea and bright sky, picturing himself and his parents at his graduation ceremony. He was glad that he could make them proud. After all, he's their only child. He smiled as he thought to himself, "I wish that day would come sooner."

He must have fallen asleep for the next thing he knew was the ship was in a state of chaos. All are frantic. Then he realized that the ship was going to sink. The ship was hit by a huge wave. When he recovered from his shock, he decided that he must do something.

So here are the two possible things he did:

POSSIBILITY 1 :

The young man then pulled out the safety jacket from under the seat. While he was going to put it on, he saw a lady who had sit beside him having trouble with her safety jacket. So, he helped her put hers on. Then he saw another who needed help, and another, and another. After mumbled a word of thanks, those whom he helped rushed out. But the sinking ship didn't wait for him to save those people, and of course it didn't give him more time to save himself. Hours later, they found him, together with several others who didn't manage to survive the tragedy.

Many came to his funeral, including those whose lives he saved. They cried and kept on expressing how grateful they were, calling him a lifesaver. His family, especially his parents, sat quietly at a corner.

Years later, those who survived the incident, saved by the young man or not, continued their lives, living everyday to the fullest. His family did too. The only difference was that whenever they saw photographs of him, tears rolled down their cheeks. The devastating feeling of losing him was not easy to forget.

POSSIBILITY 2 :

The young man then pulled out the life jacket and put it on as fast as he could. As he did this, he noticed the lady who had sit beside her. Her face was pale. He helped her a bit and quickly resumed what he was halfway doing. "Don't rush," he repeated to himself. After that, he joined those who were trying to leave the ship. On his way out, he helped others, but he didn't help much, just a little. He was clear that his priority was to get out of the sinking ship. He helped carry a little girl out of the ship. She was crying. The mother needed to carry her baby.

Not long after that, the ship sank. The young man saw this, from some where quite far. He was still holding onto the little girl's hand, the mother sitting not far away. Then he noticed the lady he helped, on a boat which was also full of saved passengers. But of course, there are those who didn't survive. He regretted a little; he could have helped them. But deep down he knew that he was glad he survived.

He reunited with his family.

Years later, while he was sitting in his living room, enjoying a great holiday evening with his own family, the telephone rang. It was from his parents, asking how their grandchildren were doing. He answered all their questions patiently, his eyes staring at the photos on the rack : the graduation ceremony, his wedding, and of course the photograph of the whole family.

So here comes the question, which is the right thing to do?

possibility 1 or 2??

from possibility 1, he saved the lives of many but causing his parents to experience the heartbroken feeling that could not possibly be healed.

from possibility 2, he survived but didn't save the lives of those of sank with the ship, if he did stay behind and try to save some of them, perhaps some other families wouldn't have to endure the feeling of losing a loved one.