12-Year-Old Karnataka Boy Risk fully Guides an Ambulance Carrying Sick Children Through the Flood; Gets Awarded
The flood situation in Karnataka had gone worse from bad in early August. The terrible and incessant rains took down the regular life of the state, which also meant the locals were affected by various diseases and disorders. If that wasn’t worse, then, the roads were flooded and the situation was ghastly.
During one of these situations, a 12-year-old Karnataka boy ran to the rescue of an ambulance carrying six sick children, which was stuck across a bridge. He skillfully guided the vehicle out of the flooded bridge, and soon, became a social media hero.
The boy, identified as Venkatesh, is a student of class 6th of a local government school, was playing with his friends on the banks of a stream located Hirerayanakumpe village of Raichur district.
It was around the same time when an ambulance carrying a woman’s body and six children was crossing through a bridge to take them to Machanoor village in Yadgir district. Due to the heavy flow of water, the vehicle got stuck and couldn’t move forward. That’s when the driver, reportedly known as Manju of Prasanna Ambulance Services, called Venkatesh to help him out.
Even though, the situation was dangerous for a young boy, Venkatesh, without thinking for a moment, ran towards the ambulance to help the driver out. In the meantime, a passerby captured the whole situation in his cell phone, which later went viral on social media.
In the video, Venkatesh is in waist-deep water as he guides the vehicle through the water, fearlessly. He also stumbled in the way, but never once, did his determination falter. At the end of the video, people were cheering him up, and even a few men ran toward Venkatesh to help him in the end.
You can watch the video here.
When asked about his act of sheer bravery, the young hero told a source, “I really don’t know if what I did was an act of bravery or not. I just wanted to help the driver. The driver of the ambulance asked me whether there was a way to go into the stream and if he could drive the ambulance on the bridge. I showed the way. I do not know what is meant by help, bravery etc.”
His brave and prudent act was not only appreciated by social media and broadcasted by news channels, but also rewarded a bravery commendation on the 73rd Independence day. He was awarded by the District Collector of Raichur for his intrepid act.
Apart from Venkatesh, there are many who have come forward to contribute their bit during this horrible situation in the state. Until now, almost 80 people have died and seven lakh people have been displaced across the 22 districts of the flooded state. There are many people still missing and more than 60,000 houses have been destroyed already. More than 10,000 people have also been rescued by the army and NDRF teams. The rainfall in the area has also been decreased and we are hoping that the situation will only improve in coming days.
