A Tale of A Little Hero; 11-year-old Boy Saves 3 in Brahmaputra Boat Capsizing

A hero cannot be defined by age and the same is reflected once again by an 11-year-old little boy from Assam who has turned the heads through his heroic act of life-saving. The Guwahati boy, Kamal Kishore Das, is credited with saving the lives of three persons from the boat capsizing accident that took place on the Brahmaputra River on Wednesday. Kamal saved his mother, aunt and a stranger from being drowned in the river water.

It all happened while Kamal was on his way to home from North Guwahati dropping off his grandmother. Kamal was accompanied by his mother and aunt in the boat and his mother on realizing the accident met by the boat, asked her son to swim to safety. Obeying his mother, Kamal swam back to the bank but realized that his mother and aunt are about to drown. Seeing this, the little boy went back to the river and saved his mother, aunt and another stranger woman by pulling them by their hair to the concrete pillars amid the river.

Stating the incident, Kamal said, “When the boat hit the pillar, my mother asked me to take off my shoes and swim to the bank. I managed to swim ashore. When I got to the bank, I realised my mother and aunt had not been able to follow. My mother can’t swim.”

Further, Kamal described, “I swam towards the accident site and glimpsed my mother. The currents were so strong, I could only grab her by the hair, then I reached for her hand and pulled her to the pillar.”

However, amidst the heroic deeds, the little boy did, a sad incident too occurred when he failed to save the lives of a woman and her baby in her arms. Stating the incident, he said that although he had pulled them to a concrete slab of the reservoir, the baby from the woman’s hand slipped off into the water and in an effort to save her baby, the woman too jumped off into the water and the swept away. It all took place in such a fraction of a moment that the boy couldn’t do anything to save them. This is what has left as regret for him despite saving the lives of three.

Notably, although not trained swimmer, Kamal used to practice swimming in the Brahmaputra twice a week.