Fox, Karen2021-07-282021-07-280727-386Xhttp://hdl.handle.net/1885/241317One of the delights of biographical research is discovering the extraordinary incidents in another person’s life. Recently, while researching the life of eminent mining engineer and company director Sir John Proud (1907-1997), I discovered the fascinating account of how he survived a plane crash in remote bush in the McPherson Ranges in southeast Queensland in 1937. He was found, seriously injured, by a local man, Alfonso Bernard O’Reilly (1903-1975), who had been searching for the downed aircraft. O’Reilly walked 16 kilometres through the rainforest to summon help, and aided rescuers to stretcher out Proud and another survivor, Joseph Binstead. Inspired by O’Reilly’s story, I set out to uncover other examples of individual heroism in the ADB.application/pdfen-AU© 2017 The Author(s)2017-06-272020-11-23