desperate - noun

a person who is frightened and in need of help

desperate - adjective

• arising from or marked by despair or loss of hope
• desperately determined
• (of persons) dangerously reckless or violent as from urgency or despair
• showing extreme courage; especially of actions courageously undertaken in desperation as a last resort
• showing extreme urgency or intensity especially because of great need or desire
• fraught with extreme danger; nearly hopeless

desperate - thesaurus

despairing   dire   heroic