Kirsty Murray - Kids Who Did: Real kids who ruled, rebelled, survived and thrived

Other books by Kirsty Murray

Zarconis Magic Flying Fish

Market Blues

Walking Home with Marie-Claire

Vultures Gate

India Dark

The Four Seasons of Lucy McKenzie

The Year It All Ended

Eat the Sky, Drink the Ocean (as editor)

CHILDREN OF THE WIND

Bridies Fire

Becoming Billy Dare

A Prayer for Blue Delaney

The Secret Life of Maeve Lee Kwong

This revised and updated edition published by Allen & Unwin in 2019

First published by Allen & Unwin as Tough Stuff in 1999

Copyright Kirsty Murray, 2019

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. The Australian Copyright Act 1968 (the Act) allows a maximum of one chapter or ten per cent of this book, whichever is the greater, to be photocopied by any educational institution for its educational purposes provided that the educational institution (or body that administers it) has given a remuneration notice to the Copyright Agency (Australia) under the Act.

Allen & Unwin

83 Alexander Street

Crows Nest NSW 2065

Australia

Phone: (61 2) 8425 0100

Email:

Web: www.allenandunwin.com

ISBN 978 1 76052 447 0

eISBN 978 1 76087 102 4

For teaching resources, explore www.allenandunwin.com/resources/for-teachers

Cover and text design by Joanna Hunt

Cover and text illustrations by Kelly Canby

kirstymurray.com

In 1999, I dedicated this book to Billy, aka William Vyvyan Murray. Though hes now a grown-up, he has always been a kid who did. For the 2019 edition, I dedicate every new story to Louis Frances Henning, who is a kid who does and a continuing source of inspiration.

CONTENTS

In 1999, I was proud to launch the first edition of Tough Stuff: true stories about kids and courage. It was a book Id dreamt of writing all my life, and it was jam-packed full of stories about people who inspired me. Since then, some of the people whose stories were included in that collection have died. Others have continued to live amazing lives. When my publishers suggested I update the original stories for a new edition, I couldnt resist adding eleven new stories as well as revisiting the old ones. Inspiring kids are born every minute of every day.

These stories arent about being famous. Theyre about kids who saved lives, came up with big ideas, survived terrible circumstances and believed they could make a difference. Not all of these stories have happy endings, and some of the children are still growing up so their futures are not yet written.

History is full of stories of kids who have done amazing things, but I picked the stories for this book because each of these children has shown incredible courage. The word courage comes from the Latin word cor (heart). These kids faced some of the toughest challenges that any human being can confront, yet they stayed true to their heartfelt beliefs. Whether they lived or died, thrived or simply survived, the children in this book help us to understand the true meaning of courage.

Coming to the rescue and especially saving a life makes you a hero in everyones books but being brave doesnt mean not being scared. Kid rescuers are ordinary kids who out of the blue did something extraordinary.

All the kids in this chapter won awards for their bravery, either from the government or from various organisations that give prizes for heroism. But the real prize for each of them was knowing that they saved someones life.

BILLY AND THE BULL

Billy Corcoran was only nine years old, but he was already pretty useful around the farm that his family owned in Amphitheatre, Victoria. When his dad, Greg, asked him to help sort some cattle at a neighbours farm, Billy was keen to go.

It was a windy day in the early spring of 1994. Late in the afternoon, Billy and Greg drove to the neighbours cattle yard. Their job was to separate the bulls from the steers, so that the neighbour could send some away to be sold.

Greg sent Billy off to collect sticks to use in herding the cattle between pens. Then Greg climbed over the fence surrounding the cattle yard. When he opened a gate between the pens, a steer bumped against it and the gate slammed into Greg, hitting him hard in the back and making him stumble forward. A bull, alarmed by the sudden movement, charged the defenceless man as he lay on the ground.

Billy heard his dad shout and ran towards the yard.

Watch out, Billy! cried Greg as the huge bull bore down on top of him and rammed him with its head.

As Greg struggled to avoid the angry bulls hooves, he discovered he couldnt move his legs. He was paralysed from the waist down. In the same moment, Greg saw a flash of blond hair and realised Billy was racing towards him, inside the pen.

Run, Billy. Get out, Billy. Get out of here! he screamed.

But Billy had other ideas. He beat the bull across the back and head with his sticks, driving it away from his dad.

You get out of here. Clear off! Billy shouted, thrashing the bull as hard as he could.

When the bull withdrew, Billy handed a stick to Greg to protect himself with. He raced across the yard to open the gate, planning to drive the bull into a neighbouring pen. But the minute Billys back was turned, the crazy animal set to again.

Billy was across the yard and on the attack in a flash. Like a mad bull-terrier he rushed at the huge beast, giving it a painful blow across its eye. Billys head didnt even reach the top of the bulls back, but he attacked it so fiercely that the stick he was using splintered and broke in his hands.

The bull backed off at last and Billy herded it out of the yard with his hands, shouting and clapping to shoo it into the adjoining pen. Then he swung the gate shut and raced back to his dad.

Billy knelt down and rested a hand on his dads shoulder.

I cant move, Billy, said Greg. I havent got any feeling in my legs.