Ivan Fredericks (1864–1904), known as Russian Jack (Русский Джек), was a goldminer of the Western Australian gold rush in the 1880s.[1] In 1885, while working in the Halls Creek goldmines, he pushed his sick friend in a wheelbarrow 300 km through the Great Sandy Desert to Wyndham, the nearest town with a medical centre.[2] A statue was erected to him in Halls Creek.[3] He is buried in Fremantle Cemetery [4][5][6] While he may not be very well known in Russia,[7] Russian Jack is a famous figure in Western Australia.[8]
The Peter J. Bridge work entitled "Russian Jack" claims the actual distance traveled to the nearest medical center was not 300 km but actually closer to 50 km.[9]
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_Jack