THE RELUCTANT HERO

When 41 Indian miners were buried alive in 2023, Arnold Dix pulled off their rescue against the odds. In doing so, the Aussie lawyer and engineer earned the love of Indians and became an overnight sensation back home.

- SUE SMETHURST

Every morning, Arnold Dix wakes before dawn, sipping tea as he watches the ombre pink and orange sunrise peep over the mountains to the east of his farm in Monbulk on the outskirts of Melbourne. “I never miss a sunrise, I love it. Each one is different, and to me it’s a really optimistic time because you haven’t had the chance to bugger up the day yet,” he says with a rollicking laugh.

Ritually, he then checks time lapse photos he has taken - using his phone - capturing each wondrous morning. Arnold then shares them with friends and neighbours on a local Facebook group - noting how the sun illuminates the eight monoliths jutting from the earth in his front paddock.

On first impressions, as he welcomes The Weekly to his Dandenong Ranges home, it looks like Professor Arnold Dix - mountain whisperer and lover of all things rock and stone - has built a replica Stonehenge or perhaps an elaborate rock art installation, just beyond his front verandah. But no, the international tunnel expert who became a hero when he orchestrated the successful rescue of 41 workers from an Indian tunnel collapse in November 2023, would never spend time on something so frivolous.

These are his “birthday stones”, a labour of love, to honour those nearest and dearest. For a decade, as he observed each sunrise, he painstakingly measured earth to sky ratios and calculated angles, creating a Galileo-like plan. He then hired a crane to place eight slabs of siltstone, one for each family member, in the exact spot where the sun rises on their birthday.

“On the morning of my birthday, Arnold will send me a picture of the sun rising over my stone with a happy birthday message,” says his sister, Helena. “It’s really beautiful to wake up to and very special… and very Arnold,” she laughs.