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So, What Makes A Hero?

If you looked for an answer in the recent inundation of superhero movies, you’d be forgiven to think it’s some combination of: spandex, superpowers and a winning smile. Also, you need to be really attractive. Add a splash of courage in the face of unbeatable odds and you have yourself a hero.  

Unless you’re living under a rock (or have a pretentious taste in movies), this formula should be familiar to you. Of course there are other things we consider important, such as: helping others, having integrity and some variation of ‘doing what is right’. But there is a reason people go see these films, over and over again, despite the main difference being different costumed heroes and villains. I mean, do we really need a 9th Spiderman film?  

There is something about the journey from ordinary to extraordinary that captures our imagination. These films play on our fantasies and dreams in a formulaic, easily digestible manner. We can relate to the initially average protagonist and see their development into a hero as a hopeful (albeit fanciful) trajectory for our own lives. Don’t worry, I’m guilty of this too. It’s a normal human response to our own mediocrity. 

Faced with so many superheroes, it’s important to remember what a normal, everyday hero looks like. 

A True Aussie Hero  

With the growth of #teamaustralia and the phenomenal community that has sprung up around it, I want to share this story of an Aussie that embodies our values. This is the story of Don Ritchie, an (extra)ordinary Aussie bloke.

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The Gap is one of Australia’s most notorious suicide spots. The cliff rears up above Watson’s Bay and claims the lives of an estimated one person per week. Across the road from a small fence that serves as the penultimate hurdle for suicidal Australians sits the house of the late Don Ritchie.  

For close to 50 years Don lived a stone’s throw from The Gap. While most people would have moved or turned a blind eye to the death at their doorstep, Don saw it differently. He thought himself lucky to have the opportunity to help so many in their most dire hour. During his time there, he officially saved 160 people from suicide, with his family estimating the number to be closer to 500.  

In his younger years, Don would occasionally physically restrain those about to jump. On one such occasion, it almost cost him his life. His efforts to save a life led to him teetering on the edge in a life-or-death struggle with a particularly determined woman. They were entangled in such a way that had she won, it would have meant his death.  

As he got older, he stuck to smiling and offering a cup of tea and a chat. This simple gesture was often all that was needed to pull people back from the brink. He wasn’t always successful though. Don witnessed many plummet to their death. Yet he remained unfazed, comfortable in the knowledge that he had done everything he could. 

He said, "Never be afraid to speak to those who you feel are in need. Always remember the power of the simple smile, a helping hand, a listening ear and a kind word."  

In a time where issues like mental health and suicide were swept under the rug, an ex-navyman and life insurer did not what was easy, but what was right. Despite a lack of spandex and superpowers, armed only with his winning smile and a genuine concern for others, an ordinary aussie set the standard of what a hero is for the whole world to see. 

Don’s the kind of hero I aspire to be.   

References

Vale Don Ritchie: the angel of the gap - http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2012/05/14/3502567.htm   

Australian "Angel" Saves Lives at Suicide Spot - http://www.cbsnews.com/news/australian-angel-saves-lives-at-suicide-spot/