On the one hand, the extreme measures start to sound the same after a while.
On the other hand, a story of survival from an accident reads very different than a story of a failed mission.
After an accident, survival is about rising to the unexpected occasion and triumphing over the odds.
In the story of a failed mission, there had been lots of preparation, and yes there was an accidental loss of those preparations, but there the risk was known. The original mission was a competition for glory, of reaching the south pole first.
In neither case does the survivor think of himself as a hero, but someone lays down his life to put it at great risk to bring rescue to others, that's heroic, even if it felt like nothing more than the necessity of the moment.
The Bible mentions heroes, too.
Paul sent greetings to Priscilla and Aquila “who risked their own necks for my life” (Romans 16:3-4). He instructed others to hold men in esteem “because for the work of Christ he came close to death” (Philippians 2:25-30).
Jesus is the ultimate hero. He showed the greatest love when he laid down His life for us. One day he will get the hero's welcome He deserves when He triumphs over principalities and powers and makes “a public spectacle of them” (Colossians 2:13-15).
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