Rhodes on a famous shirt, a heroic rescue and a curious encounter in the park

Diego Maradona's shirt from the contentious England-Argentina World Cup quarter-final in 1986 is to be auctioned next month and may fetch more than £4 million. It seems a lot of money to pay for a second-hand shirt but then it is something special. The hand-me-down of God.

Are you a hero or a gawper? Silly question, isn't it? We are all heroes. We all know in our hearts that, when the crisis comes we are the ones who leap into action while the gawpers gawp. Sadly, it doesn't always work out like that. We find ourselves gawping while someone else does the heroic stuff, and later we think up loads of worthy excuses: you should never move an unconscious person, the paramedics were on their way, I'm allergic to water, I had an urgent appointment with the chiropodist, etc.

If you think you might be a potential hero, try reading the report of 21-year-old Will Mowbray who saved a man from drowning in the River Severn a few days ago.

Will was soaked, frozen and exhausted but undefeated. His deed went beyond courage. It was solid determination that, however long it took, this stranger was not going to die. The Severn shall not have him. It was sheer, bloody-minded Will power and if he doesn't get a medal there is no justice.

PS: Naturally, it goes without saying that, had I been at the scene of this crisis, I too would have plunged heroically into the raging River Severn. If it wasn't for these bunions.

Here's a weird thing. We were walking through the park. Coming the other way was a young couple we had never seen before with a toddler aged no more than three. As they drew level the toddler smiled at me and said: “Hello, Peter.” Astonished, I said “hello” back and he repeated: “Hello, Peter.” The four adults were all dumbstruck and amused but none of us could offer any explanation. I bet you lot can.

With a runny nose caused by early-onset hayfever, a reader tells me she bought a non-prescription remedy but made the mistake of reading the small print which says: “In some very rare cases people have thought about committing suicide.” Other possible side-effects include: agitation, confusion, depression, hallucinations, bed-wetting and difficulty in breathing. Oh, and a runny nose.