A good hero is hard to find, so despite it being an almost unbearably sad week in the West and right here Down Under, the silver lining is the chance to see and reflect on humanity at its best, even when others have just demonstrated it at its worst.
Heroes tend to be made, not born, and fall into two distinct and very different categories: accidental ones such as those who risked and even gave their lives to save others in Paris, and the sort who combine hard work and raw talent to blaze a trail for others to follow, like Jonah Lomu. There's no way to compare them and certainly no point, but it has to be said that, at a time in history when the actions of a few acting in the name of their own version of God makes you question if one even exists, it helps to know there are people to have faith in.
Out of the rubble of any tragedy or disaster will always come stories of sacrifice and courage.
There was the police dog, Diesel, killed by an explosion after being sent to sniff for booby traps in the wake of the attacks. On the night of the attacks, a young man pulled a pregnant woman to safety from the second storey of the Bataclan Theatre.
To me, the noblest story of heroism was that of Ludovic Boumbas, who threw himself between his friend and a deadly bullet at the La Belle Equipe cafe, and paid for that split-second decision with his life.