BRAVE HEARTS WHO DEFIED ODDS

BRAVE HEARTS WHO DEFIED ODDS

It takes a lot more than just courage to conquer fear… to defy destiny…to save a fellow being’s life putting one’s own life in peril.Vishnu, Mebin, and Remith, may not have realised the immenseness of their feat when they helped save thelives of total strangers from the jaws of death. But their acts of bravery did not go unnoticed.These brave hearts from Kerala are among those chosen for this year’s National Bravery Awards by the Indian Council for Child Welfare. They will receive the commendation from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on January 26 at New Delhi and participate in the Republic Day parade.For one minute, M.V. Vishnu, a 17-year-old ITI student from Thrissur, was one among the innumerable onlookers at the Thrissur railway station, who stood frozen in fear when they saw a girl trip and fall on the railway tracks and the train approaching fast with a deafening roar.While everyone around him stood rooted in fear, the boy jumped on to the tracks and managed to drag the girl off the tracks.

St. Mary’s HSS, Champakkulam, has got its national hero in Mebin Cyriac, a Plus Two student in the school. Mebin was among the passengers in a small ferry boat crossing Kainankara, when he saw his botany teacher, Baiju Thomas, lose balance and fall into the river. Baiju Thomas would not have lived to tell the tale if not for Mebin, who plunged into the swollen river and saved his life. K. Remith, a Class IX student of Thokkilangadi Koothuparamba HS, Kannur, became the saviour of two adults who would have drowned in a pond, if not for the immense courage shown by this 14-year-old.Even though both the adults were much older and heavier than him, he managed to keep both above water and bring them to safety.

Prof. John Kurakar