This man is a hero, are YOU?

Xavi6

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=385227

Fisherman who swam 12 hours speaks to media
The fisherman who swam for 12 hours to alert authorities to the sinking of his trawler and the plight of his crewmates has spoken for the first time.

Michael Williams laid exhausted in his hospital bed as his family came to visit today, and could barely speak while fielding media enquiries.

"Kicking and paddling on a fishing tub ... an upside-down fishing tub, that's what I floated on," he said.

When asked whether he saw any rescue helicopters, he said: "yep, plenty ... second day."

When asked if he tried to get their attention, he said he "tried everything."

MrWilliams also said he knew what caused the sinking of the trawler but refused to comment ahead of the coronial enquiry.

Friends of the skipper of the ship still lost at sea off the NSW far north coast hope he will be found safe like his two crewmates.

Charlie Picton and his two deckhands were thrown into the sea when his trawler sank about 4am (AEDT) on Wednesday off the coast of Byron Bay.

Mr Williams, 39, made his marathon 12-hour swim to safety and crawled onto New Brighton Beach, north of Byron Bay, about 4pm (AEDT) on Wednesday.

The second deckhand, John Jarret, was rescued about 8.15am today by a Queensland rescue helicopter after nearly 25 hours in the water.

He was found floating 15km north-east of Ballina, suffering from hypothermia and dehydration.

The two men are being treated in separate far north coast hospitals.

Mr Jarret's family were overjoyed by news of his rescue.

"It's beautiful, wonderful. I just can't wait to see him," his sister Rosemary Jarret told reporters on her way into Ballina hospital with other family members.

The search continues for Mr Picton, aged in his 30s from nearby Yamba.

Picton family friend Russell Creighton said most of the fishing trawlers based in Yamba had joined the search.

"I've known Charlie for a long, long time," Mr Creighton said.

"He's a Yamba resident - born and bred there and he's been a fisherman all his life."

Mr Creighton said he was a close mate of Mr Picton's father, also a fisherman, who might be involved in the search.

"A lot of our trawlers are up there participating in the search," he said.

"He's a really, really good fisherman - a nice young bloke."

Mr Creighton said Mr Picton was married and had a number of siblings.

Mr Williams, who is believed to be from Maclean, is a black belt in karate and his high level of fitness was probably a factor in his survival.

Chris Gort said he was second on the scene when Mr Williams crawled ashore at New Brighton Beach, near Byron Bay, about 4pm (AEDT) on Wednesday.

"I was walking along the beach and came across a female who had found this gentleman that had claimed he had been swimming for hours in the water and claimed that his boat had sunk," Mr Gort told Sky News.

"He had pretty bad cuts and bruises to his legs and his arms, he was pretty exhausted, pretty badly sunburnt."

The air and sea rescue operation continues with up to 10 helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft.

Police said conditions remained favourable for their search.

"The water temperature's about 24 degrees, the seas are calm and conditions are good for a search," NSW Police Sergeant Mark Hutchings told the Nine Network.

Westpac Lifesaver Rescue Helicopter spokesman Roger Fry said the ability of two men to survive gave hope to search crews that they will find the third fisherman alive.

"Judging that the second fisherman survived through the night ... we can only hope that the same has occurred with the third," Mr Fry told Sky News.

So this leads to my question for the day -

Have you ever done anything that could be deemed heroic? (And I don't mean lashin your mates ma out of it, though that is legendary in it's own right).

Personally I haven't really.

DonalN

i saved the world from total destruction once when I was 5 years old - I didn't stand on a single crack in the pavement all the way home from school. God, that was a good day to be alive!

tallaght01

Nope.

I'd have sent the weakest member of the team to swim home and get help

randylonghorn

tallaght01 wrote: »

Nope.

Ah, wait, didn't you stick it out for 3 / 4 weeks only last Autumn? And without actually murdering anyone? That's fairly heroic!

Hmmm ... had a fairly minor involvement in pulling someone out of the river one night. No major heroics though ... more an extra pair of hands.

tallaght01

randylonghorn wrote: »

Ah, wait, didn't you stick it out for 3 / 4 weeks only last Autumn? And without actually murdering anyone? That's fairly heroic!

.

Get it right, man, it was 6 weeks

Endurance central, that was.

If I were a proper hero, thouh, I' have to learn to say all the stuff they say, like "I don't think I'm a hero", "I just did what i had to do" and "I'm really just thinking about how lucky we all are to be alive".

Coz my 1st instinct wold be to say "yessss, I'm a hero. You KNOW i am. Do I get money for that?".

the dee

I called the police when I saw a guy being beaten up one night. Not very heroic maybe but if I'd drawn attention to myself they probably would have beaten me up too. I'm a tiny girl, it was the best I could do.

I'd like to think I've saved the lives of a few animals, does that count as heroic?

Sherifu

Not that I can remember.

Marksie

I once heard a next door neighbour screaming for help.
Her b/friend was kicking teh crap out of her and when i got down there she was naked on the floor and the little runt was standing over her with a knife in the kitchen doorway.

I had called for my rugby mates as backup and while he was seemingly the "hard guy" with her..he sort of wilted when faced with three extremely fit guys at the door.
I called the policec but she never pressed charges :rolleyes:

The police did say well done though.

Hero... no. Just someone stopping a bully hurting someone weaker

I once rescued a cat from a tree.

Only problem was that once I got up there, I realised the cat quite liked being up the tree, and wasn't too happy about me trying to get it down.

AlmightyCushion

He was found floating 15km north-east of Ballina, suffering from hypothermia and dehydration.

How could he be dehydrated, sure he was surrounded by water.

rainbowtrout

AlmightyCushion wrote: »

How could he be dehydrated, sure he was surrounded by water.

you can't drink salt water.

AARRRGH

I saved Christmas for a kid once... not sure if that's heroic.

Gordon

I was working late shifts a few months ago and was woken up (yet again) by my noisey neighbours upstairs. This time one of the women was crying. It was getting really annoying and I was so fed up of her and her kids running about or shouting/crying etc so I stayed in bed.

I couldn't ignore her voice, her crying, sometimes sounding like she was in pain. In fact she probably was in pain, quite a bit actually. Hmm.. maybe she needs help. I was really tired but stayed in bed.

Then she started to raise her voice, as if she was scared and in pain, crying, sobbing. She screamed out loud. F*ck, I thought. She screamed again, as if in pain, as if being slashed with a knife or something! Without thinking, on a kind of autopilot, I jumped out of bed threw my trousers on and ran to the door. I quickly glanced in the living room to check if my flatmate was there for backup (ex marine, so kinda helpful in that circumstance). He was there on the couch, I was just about to shout to him that someone was being murdered upstairs when I realised he was watching a film. He was watching the murder scene in Hostel II and that's what I was overhearing.

So, no, but I have the capacity to do it, I think!

AlmightyCushion

You can but it just ends up dehydrating you so there's no point especially when you are trying to stave off dehydration.

P.S Thanks for ruining my joke.

AARRRGH

Good story!

Petey2006

Me? Nope. Sat through Fair City the other night because my flatmate wanted to watch it which I thought was pretty heroic as I wanted to claw my own eyes out.

But when I was seven, I was in a golf club with my parents and five year old sister. We were upstairs in the bar and my sister started walking towards the balcony. As it was still being constructed, there was no actual balcony, and the doors were open. My sister stepped out into the middle of nothing and would have plunged four storeys to her death had our au pair at the time not dived for the open gap and grabbed my sister in mid air. That was pretty heroic, me thinks.

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

saved a kid from drowning a few years back.
dunno why, little bastard never did anything for me

Jesus Wept

rainbowtrout wrote: »

you can't drink salt water.

Sounds like a wager to me.

The-Rigger

The-Rigger wrote: »

Sounds like a wager to me.

Ok.

I bet you New Zealand that you can't

Jesus Wept

Deleted User wrote: »

Ok.

I bet you New Zealand that you can't

Done, but you have to cover P&P.

AlmightyCushion

Oh please, New Zealand isn't even a real country.

Jesus Wept

AlmightyCushion wrote: »

Oh please, New Zealand isn't even a real country.

It's a start though.

gerky

Oscar Schindler wrote: »

saved a kid from drowning a few years back.
dunno why, little bastard never did anything for me

O come now your being modest after all didn't you save loads of Jewish people from death camps:)

Boggles

With a fat bird once, she was huge. She Ate a beef pie before I proceeded to pump her like a half deflated life raft.

Does that count?

Jesus Wept

Boggles wrote: »

With a fat bird once, she was huge. She Ate a beef pie before I proceeded to pump her like a half deflated life raft.

Does that count?

.....it counts for something.

gerky

Boggles wrote: »

With a fat bird once, she was huge. She Ate a beef pie before I proceeded to pump her like a half deflated life raft.

Does that count?

No,no it doesn't,if it was harney then maybe.

Karl Hungus

Gordon wrote: »

I was working late shifts a few months ago and was woken up (yet again) by my noisey neighbours upstairs. This time one of the women was crying. It was getting really annoying and I was so fed up of her and her kids running about or shouting/crying etc so I stayed in bed.

I couldn't ignore her voice, her crying, sometimes sounding like she was in pain. In fact she probably was in pain, quite a bit actually. Hmm.. maybe she needs help. I was really tired but stayed in bed.

Then she started to raise her voice, as if she was scared and in pain, crying, sobbing. She screamed out loud. F*ck, I thought. She screamed again, as if in pain, as if being slashed with a knife or something! Without thinking, on a kind of autopilot, I jumped out of bed threw my trousers on and ran to the door. I quickly glanced in the living room to check if my flatmate was there for backup (ex marine, so kinda helpful in that circumstance). He was there on the couch, I was just about to shout to him that someone was being murdered upstairs when I realised he was watching a film. He was watching the murder scene in Hostel II and that's what I was overhearing.

So, no, but I have the capacity to do it, I think!

Rofflecopter!

Was this the "Shower" scene? The sound effects alone had me wincing in that bit, so I can understand your reaction.

Terry

Xavi6 wrote: »

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=385227



So this leads to my question for the day -

Have you ever done anything that could be deemed heroic? (And I don't mean lashin your mates ma out of it, though that is legendary in it's own right).

Personally I haven't really.

He's not a hero.
All he did was follow his instinct to survive. That's not really heroic. It's just human nature.

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

your typical human would havfe given up long before that and just accepted death.

Boggles

gerky wrote: »

No,no it doesn't,if it was harney then maybe.

Of course it wasn't, I'm not Gay!

MrJoeSoap

Anyone who can swim from 15km north-east of Ballina to near Byron Bay is a bit of a hero. Thats some swim altogether.

Jesus Wept

gerky wrote: »

No,no it doesn't,if it was harney then maybe.

That wouldn't make him a hero, it would make him a martyr.

gerky

The-Rigger wrote: »

That wouldn't make him a hero, it would make him a martyr.

Yep,so many brave men so few returned alive:(

Calibos

When I was 11, myself and my best mate at the time had climbedup a tree. We were about the equivelent of two storeys up when the eejit decided to crawl out on a branch. He slipped off and ended up hanging on for dear life with his two hands screaming for his mammy. Sh1tting a brick I crawled out a bit and told him to calm down or he would fall and to swing his leg back up around the branch. He managed it after a few trys and we made it back down to the ground safely.

Two armed robbers (turned out to be a disabled starter pistol) tried to rob our shop about 15 years ago. I wasn't working but happened to have just come back from a [edit] league and had [edit][edit] ball in a bag by my feet while I read a magazine. The lads burst in, the oul lad started swinging a big stick. Gun pointed at him, gun pointed at me etc. When your man turned back to dad I picked up the closest thing to hand which was my ball and smashed it into the armed robbers back. They left in shock leaving the gun behind. Feckers got away with it though as we never saw their faces. [edited] upon reflection, I decided to omit some details. It was somewhat of a unique incident and might be easily identifyable. The young hood is a Mr Big these days


Last year I smack head came behind the counter and held a knife to my brothers thoat while I was in the back stock room. I ran out when I heard the commotion and came up behind the scumbag and grabbed the knife hand his hoodie and swung him away from the bro. He scarpered and the gob****e looked back to tell us, "Yiz Bastards!!" Shouldn't have done that mate! I just saw your face with the hoodie out of the way and I know ya, ya cvnt. He's in the joy for the next little while

Its funny but I never would have thought I was capable of any of that. I am quiet and mild mannered, Sensitive (I cry when watching the Green Mile ) have never been in a fight in my entire life. Threaten me or mine though and its red mist time.

Jesus Wept

Where's Gavin Shels when you need him?!

He's a proper hero.

Matt Santos

This goes back to the very early '90's when I was in college. I was living with a group of friends in a house in Rialto. We had no Sky at the time but we had the TV which was a huge thing for us poor students back then. For some bizarre reason we could pick up no channel except RTE1 and that was terrible! Even more bizarre was the fact that we had a video recorder!
A few of us owned a few videos but most of our television was rented videos.
Anyway getting to the story, I was going to the video store one evening and sauntering down the path I found myself approaching an old phone box. Inside the phone box which was across from the entrance to the flats was a couple (a right skanger couple too!!).
As I got closer to the box I noticed that the two were arguing and just as I got to the box the fella lashed out with the receiver and clocked the girl on the head! Now, these were the old phone receivers that were some considerable weight. I was in motion walking and had past the phone box when it dawned on me what had just taken place.
I have only a few times in my life felt the same feeling but it was an incredible thing to experience. There came a heat from the bottom of my feet that came over me like I have never felt! Without even thinking I had turned around took the few steps back to the phone box. I flung open the door to find the girl just about standing up and the fella standing there mouthing at her.
BANG! The sweetest right into the jaw I ever did throw! BANG! Down goes Foreman!
The guy just slumped into a heap in the box!
I stepped back and the phone box door closed. I then set off on my walk to the video store as originally planned.
Incredibly, when I was thirty or forty yards away I did hear the girl yell some abuse at me!
I dunno does that qualify as being a hero?

Gordon

Karl Hungus wrote: »

Rofflecopter!

Was this the "Shower" scene? The sound effects alone had me wincing in that bit, so I can understand your reaction.

I don't know actually, I ended up only watching the film after that scene. I think it was very early on in the film and for some reason the girl seemed to have no other voices around her, so if the shower scene is a girl tied up with little dialogue and lots of blood curdling wailing, then I guess it is! I need to watch that scene properly

Hagar

Some days getting up is the most herosim I can manage.

MarkR

Does doing a fat bird as a wingman count? If so.... I'm still not one as I just couldn't!

Dun laoire

The last time myself and the mates went paintballing. There was just myself and another fella just outside a hut. I looked up and noticed one of the opposing team looking over a barrell with his gun locked and loaded ready to shoot. My immediate reaction without even thinking was to push him and dive for cover myself. Neither of us got shot. I felt like a bit of a hero. We lay there in the grass removed masks and shared a kiss. It was a lovely moment.

Gavin "shels"

The-Rigger wrote: »

Where's Gavin Shels when you need him?!

He's a proper hero.

:cool::cool:

darkman2

This man is a hero, are YOU?

lol I thought this thread was going to be about Prince Harry:D:p

biggun

Gavin shels wrote: »

:cool::cool:

A friend of mine was killed in a car accidnet when I was 19, he was 18. I stayed with him while he died because I didnt want him to pass away alone. Ambulance came about 5/6 minutes after he went. Nothing heroic but something I had to do

FunkZ

I made an excellent save in the dying seconds of a cup semi final when I was 10 playing football, we went on to win the final.

Karl Hungus

Gordon wrote: »

I don't know actually, I ended up only watching the film after that scene. I think it was very early on in the film and for some reason the girl seemed to have no other voices around her, so if the shower scene is a girl tied up with little dialogue and lots of blood curdling wailing, then I guess it is! I need to watch that scene properly

Yeah, probably was that scene so.

I say "Shower" scene, because she was hung upside down, and a woman with a scythe lashed at her, so the blood was showering down on said woman.

Beautiful piece of cinema right there.

BDubliner

I consider any male who shags fat women heros, I salute you brave men of Ireland. I've mounted a few of them myself in a drunken state.

Capt'n Midnight

I gave blood.

jdivision

Woman left go out of her buggy with the baby in it on an escalator and I stopped it before it hit the bottom. Pulled a friend off the road just before a car would have plowed into her, she was looking the other way. Neither that heroic though.

BDubliner

BDubliner wrote: »

I consider any male who shags fat women heros, I salute you brave men of Ireland. I've mounted a few of them myself in a drunken state.

Just back home early a little bit juiced and lol'd, cheers!

Eh, no lie here. My mate tried to throw himself in front of a truck over a girl he was friends with/in love with(he was no George Clooney). I jumped in front of him and pushed him off the road. So so close to getting at least my legs crushed.