THERE has been a great deal of talk about heroism in 2009. Our boys in Afghanistan – more than 100 of whom have lost their lives – top the list, and rightly so. Anyone who joins the armed forces in these troubled times deserves a medal.

Other contenders are Joanna Lumley for her relentless battle for recognition of the plight of the Gurkhas.

Then there was Hilary Lister, the first disabled woman to sail single-handedly around Great Britain.

Dinner lady Carol Hill who was sacked for telling a little girl’s parents that she had been bullied is also worthy of a mention as is Neda Soltan, the philosophy student who has been hailed as Iran’s Angel Of Freedom after she was shot during the democracy protests in Tehran.

Struggle

Video footage of her killing has made her a symbol of Iran’s struggle against dictatorship, which this year spilled over into violence.

There are many many more heroes of 2009, so it is fitting that the year comes to a close with a selfless act of true heroism that has saved hundreds of lives.

Film producer Jasper Schuringa was fearless as he jumped into action to foil a alleged terrorist attack on the US airliner flying from Amsterdam to Detroit on Christmas Day.

On seeing the device – strapped to the leg of Abdul Farouk Umar Abdulmutallab – burst into flames, he leapt over the back of the seat and over other passengers to pummel the terror suspect.

He pulled the device away with his bare hands, suffering severe burns in the process, and dragged the man to the front of the plane, where he was dealt with by airline crew.

Passengers did their bit by throwing water on the device.

Schuringa’s actions saved the lives of 289 people in the plane.

Had the bomb brought down the jet, Lockerbie-style, its wreckage could have also killed people on the ground, some possibly belonging to the 150,000-strong Muslim community in Detroit.

Horror

Schuringa’s actions get a mere mention in this huge Christmas horror story, where blame is being apportioned and the minutiae of the suspect’s life is exposed.

Thanks to him, hundreds of people can truly celebrate the New Year they almost didn’t see.

He is the true hero of 2009.

Also, I am feeling a need to eat humble pie. I was the columnist who criticised the new X-ray body scanner technology being used at Manchester Airport. I felt it was an invasion of privacy.

However, I’m now wondering if Lagos and Schipol Airports had this technology, would it have shown up that the suspect had explosive chemicals strapped to his thigh?

He apparently had them placed close to his groin – a sensitive area, not routinely investigated by normal security methods.

If it proves so, I have to admit, I was wrong.

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