Can danger make us superhuman? A 13-year-old Australian boy has shocked the world by swimming for four hours across a choppy, shark-infested stretch of ocean to save his family.
Teenager’s four-hour swim to save family
Epic feat: Appelbee abandoned his own life jacket because it was slowing down his swim to shore. Glossary
Perth - A major city of 2.3 million in Western Australia.
Gruelling - Very tiring and difficult.
phenomenon - A remarkable person or thing. Or something that is observed to exist.
Hysterical - Affected by wildly uncontrolled emotion.
Amygdala - An almond-shaped structure in the middle of the brain that is thought to hold some of our oldest instincts, such as the “fight or flight” impulse.
Adrenaline - A hormone made by the body in response to a stressful or threatening situation.
Cortisol - A hormone that helps the body deal with stress.
Fight-or-flight - The name given to an instinctive response in humans and animals when confronted with a threat. Traditionally it was thought that in this state of panic, we become either aggressive or cowardly.
Inhibitory - Preventing an action.