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It was just after three o'clock when a man at an Australian shopping centre started attacking people with a knife. But while most people headed for safety, a police officer raced towards the attacker.  

By the time Inspector Amy Scott reached the scene, the knifeman had killed six people.

She shouted "Put it down!" Instead, he raised his knife. Scott shot him, and he fell to the ground.

Australia's prime ministerA prime minister is the head of government in a country with a parliamentary system. , Anthony Albanese, called Scott a hero.

Yet Scott was not the only person who showed enormous courageBravery. Strength in the face of difficult situations. . One man, Damien Guerot, faced the knifeman at the top of an escalator armed only with a pole. 

This week a six-year-old girl from Yorkshire was also called a hero.

Olivia Patterson was playing outside when she saw flames rising from the roof of her house. Olivia ran into the burning building to wake her mother, who was asleep on the sofa with her two younger children.

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According to an expertSomeone who knows a lot about a particular subject., Professor Deane Aikins, some people are physically prepared to be heroes. They feel fear but do not show signs of panic.

While most of us are overwhelmed by stress in dangerous situations, they experience lower levels of it.

Another expert, Dr Punit Shah, argues that people who "act quickly and are more impulsiveActing without thinking much about it. are more likely to engage in acts of heroism... people that are risk-takers".²

Is courage a little bit mad?

Yes! Human beings have survived for so long because most people run away from danger, rather than towards it. Those who put themselves at risk must be slightly crazy.

No! There was nothing mad about Amy Scott's actions. Heroes keep a cool head and do not panic, which means that they are the opposite of mad.