Heroes

I know they've always been there, I saw them in the bush fires during Black Saturday in Victoria, then again in the Queensland floods, and only a couple of weeks later during Cyclone Yasi.  And from last Tuesday,  I'm seeing them in Christchurch.
Risking their own lives to try and save the lives of others.
These people are all heroes.
Sometimes they do what they do for a "job", although saving lives could hardly be described as a "job", it's a mind set, a core value, a part of their soul.
And some just do it because it needs to be done.
It's the guys in work suits hoisting makeshift ladders up onto crumpled buildings, it's the people in waist deep raging water throwing rope out to stranded people, it's the men hanging from helicopters scooping terrified people from their roofs.  It's the blackened faces of locals running in terror as walls of flames approach, knocking on doors and spending precious seconds to warn others.  It's the horror stricken men and women carrying the horror stricken injured on makeshift stretchers as aftershocks rumble, and bricks fall.  It's the people working on ravaged buildings at night under light, to try and find survivors when most hope has long gone.  It's the medical workers treating damaged bodies with tenderness and respect, as the Chief Coroner said "I'm a mother too, these bodies will not be left alone, someone will always be with them".

You are all heroes.