Sri Lankan boy's bravery saves 4 lives

COLOMBO, Nov. 12 (Xinhua) -- Many still find it hard to believe, even after meeting him, that a 1.1-meter tall, 9-year-old Sri Lankan boy weighing only 26 kg could save four drowning people, including three adults.

But that is what Dinesh Sandakelum Rajapakse did near his hometown in central Sri Lanka in January and it has brought him national fame and set his life on a new course.


SAVING LIVES OF FOUR

"I was riding my bicycle towards the Loggaloya river to bathe when a land master tractor passed by. Several minutes later I heard a girl screaming for help," soft-talking Dinesh told Xinhua in the capital Colombo.

Reaching the bank of the river swiftly, Dinesh found the tractor had fallen into the 40-foot-deep (12.2 m) Loggaloya River -- a branch of Sri Lanka's longest river, Mahaweli Ganga -- and several people were struggling for their lives.

"I removed my sarong, jumped into the water and pushed the girl screaming for help to the bank and then swam towards the adults," said Dinesh.

The nine-year-old boy managed to take another two female adults and one male adult to the bank in a very short time.

However, the boy regretted he could not save the life of the last adult, named Dinadasa.

"I wasted some time as the uncle I saved asked me to search for his sarong in the river," said the boy.

Later, Sandakelum's father came to the scene and recovered the body of Dinadasa.

One of those saved was 47-year-old Yasawathie. She said the tractor belonged to her husband and they were returning home after working in nearby fields when it suddenly veered and fell into the river, the scene of previous fatal accidents.

BECOMING HERO OF THE NATION

The eldest son to a poor farming family, Danish soon became a hero in his village, Mahiyangana, and his story was published by several national newspapers. His headmaster, D. P. Ananda, praised him at an assembly in school.

Dinesh said he was not afraid when he saved the lives of the four people because he was very familiar with the river and knew how to rescue drowning people.

"My father taught me swimming when I was two years old and we spend a lot of time in the river," Dinesh said, adding that he had saved two people in the same river when he was only eight.

To avoid being pulled down by the drowning people, Dinesh grabbed the hair of the two women and dragged them to the bank.

His heroics led to a meeting with Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse in Colombo on March 16, where the president delivered his personal thanks.

Dinesh was also offered an educational scholarship to study at the Nalanda College, a leading boys' school in Colombo funded through donations from a local bank and the Nalanda Old Boys Association.

His father, Rajamuni Rajapakse, was offered a job at Peradeniya Hospital, about 100 km northeast of the capital Colombo, giving the family more income to support the boy's education.

Now Dinesh is the youngest boy in the hostel of Nalanda College.

"Usually only children older than 11 years can be accommodated in the hostel," said Yamuna Kalyani, the class teacher of Dinesh.

Kalyani said Dinesh was very kind and he always shared his foodwith his classmates.

She said, when the boy returned to his village, about 160 km east of Colombo, he always took pencils, books and other school items from Nalanda College for his friends.

WANTS TO BE A DOCTOR

"I want to be a doctor when I grow up," said Dinesh.

He said he was very happy now as he had a good school to complete his study.

Dinesh also wants to compete in the Olympic games when he grows up -- in swimming obviously.

Although satisfied with his new school and the capital Colombo, Dinesh, as a small boy, has his complaints and wishes.

"I don't like rice and curry (the most common food eaten by Sri Lankans). I like sausage buns," said Dinesh.

He said he also wanted some new clothes apart from the uniform he wears on school days.

Sarath Gunathilaka, the deputy principal of Nalanda College, said he visited the river and it's hard for him to believe the little boy saved four lives there, as the water is very deep.

"I was frightened by the condition of the river," said Gunathilaka.

The deputy principal of the elite school said the school would sponsor the little hero's education until he graduates from the college.