Colin Sheridan: Austin Appelbee's 'quiet heroism' is worth more than any poster boy bravery

The story of the 13-year-old Australian boy who swam for hours to get help after his family were swept out to sea is an example of true heroism, writes Colin Sheridan

When the Beirut blast hit, I was clueless. Not because I lacked training, but because reality has a way of shattering training into useless fragments. File photo: AP/Hussein Malla

This week’s story about Austin Appelbee, the 13-year-old Australian boy with an Irish mother who swam for hours to get help after his family were swept out to sea, has been living in my head. 

Not because it’s cinematic, although it is, but because it reminds us of something we don’t like to admit: most of the time, we don’t rise to the occasion. We default to whatever is already in us.