Bravery Facts

Austin Appelbee was 13 when his family's kayak flipped off Western Australia. His mother told him to swim for shore. He swam two hours with a life jacket. When it slowed him, he took it off. He swam two more hours without one. He reached shore and sprinted another mile to find a phone. His family was found 14 km out after 10 hours. Everyone survived.

An unarmed Syrian-born fruit seller crouched behind a parked car, sprinted out, and tackled an attacker threatening 1,000 Jewish revellers at a Hanukkah celebration on Bondi Beach - taking two hits in the process. The Jewish community launched a GoFundMe that raised A$2.64 million for him. He reportedly asked the organisers: "Do I deserve it?"

Fousseynou Cisse was a school receptionist in Paris. He edged along a sixth-floor ledge 65 feet up as a neighbor's apartment burned. Through the window he passed six people to safety - two babies, two children, two mothers. On March 24, 2026, France made him a citizen at the Pantheon.