Australian stuntwoman pens survival guide

Australian stuntwoman Ky Furneaux's Girl's Own Survival Guide gives tips on how to deal with the unexpected - from the urban jungle to the great outdoors.

You name it, she's done it.

Australia's own Bear Grylls, stuntwoman Ky Furneaux, has hiked for days without food, worked as a double for Sharon Stone, and had a tug-o-war with an anaconda.

And the 40-year-old can add "written a book" to that list.

Girl's Own Survival Guide: How To Deal With The Unexpected, by Los Angeles-based Furneaux is full of tales and tips - from staying safe in the city to finding water in the desert.

Her book, which has a bright pink cover featuring a picture of a multi-function knife, is divided into four chapters: think positive, be prepared, be adaptable and educate yourself.

Highlights include how to fashion a home-made water filter; how to forage for edible plants in the city; and how to run in high heels.

Furneaux, who grew up wearing hiking boots, learnt to fight and leap like a super hero in the highest of heels by practising running with her weight on the balls of her feet.

This came in useful when she doubled for Sharon Stone in Catwoman and had to be thrown across the room while wearing a pair of $8000 Italian heels.

Adelaide-born Furneaux, who in 2012 won the best female stunt gong at the Taurus Awards - the stunt world's equivalent of the Oscars - has also doubled for Anne Hathaway and Jennifer Garner.

Last year the she appeared on the Discovery Channel's Naked And Afraid, in which contestants are thrown without food, water and clothes into the jungle with a member of the opposite sex.

Furneaux survived 21 days in the Louisiana wetlands, a place infested with alligators and brimming with poison ivy and venomous cottonmouth snakes.

She's certainly put herself through some remarkable situations and young women would be doing themselves a favour to pop a copy of her book in their rucksack or handbag.

*Girl's Own Survival Guide, by Ky Furneaux, is published by Penguin, RRP $24.99


2 min read

Published

Updated

Source: AAP


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