MY dictionary describes a hero as “a man distinguished by exceptional courage.”

Yet it is a word that is bandied about so readily and far too often attributed to overpaid and underwhelming sportsmen, film stars and entertainers.

It was a word used frequently during the funeral service of firefighter Jim Shears and for once it summed up this father-of-two perfectly.

It would take a hard-hearted soul not to be moved by the words spoken by his family, friends and colleagues, or by the poem that eloquently highlighted the dangerous job that took his life.

Jim’s dad urged people to pack the church out to say farewell to his son and that they did. They came in their droves, filling the church and spilling out into the areas around to listen to the service as the sun worked hard to belie the weather predictions.

It was as moving an occasion as those that have been held to honour the deaths of our young soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan and it was a mark of the respect the community has for Jim Shears and the brave men and woman of our emergency services that the streets leading to the church were packed.

Jim gave his life to save others.

A fitting tribute to that sacrifice would be that all of us thought so much more keenly about preventing the kind of tragic incident that look his life.