Honouring Bravery! 13-Year-Old To Receive National Bravery Award For Saving Brother From Being Electrocuted

Children are the hope for a better tomorrow, and their acts of kindness and bravery ultimately define a nation's future. Honouring these acts every year, the Government of India and the Indian Council for Child Welfare (ICCW) give out the National Bravery Awards to 25 Indian children below 18 years of age. The awards are looked out for each year as it brings out inspiring stories and "meritorious acts of bravery" carried out by children against all odds. This year 13-year-old Laxmi Yedlewar from the Nanded district of Maharashtra has been endowed with the award for her brave act of saving her cousin from electrocution.

Presence Of Mind Saves The Day

The 13-year-old's name made it to the list for the presence of mind and bravery she showed in saving her cousin's life. The incident reportedly happened in September 2021, when the then 11-year-old Laxmi was home with her four-year-old cousin Aditya. All the adult members of the family had left for work and had entrusted the children to take care of each other.

According to a report by the Indian Express, Aditya had gone behind the house, where he somehow fell on a live electric wire. Laxmi's father, Ananda Yedlewar, stated that the wire had fallen from a tin shed separating two adjacent houses, leading to Aditya being electrocuted. Soon as he cried out after being struck by the wire, Laxmi ran out to his rescue. She then immediately fetched a wooden log to separate Aditya from the wire. Laxmi was able to save Aditya, but she got stuck to it instead and lost consciousness. The neighbours who had heard Aditya's cry for help reached the place and took Laxmi to the hospital.

Putting School Lessons To Use

Laxmi, now in good health, has vague recollections of the day. While the events that led to the incident are unclear in the young child's mind, she says, "there was only one thing in my mind that I had to save Aditya." She had learnt in school that a wooden log often helps in such situations as it is not conductive in nature. The Class eight student of a Zilla parishad school was able to put this understanding to use and help save a life in time.

Ananda, who works as a labourer in a farm, sees a bright future for Laxmi and hopes that she receives the opportunity to pursue higher education. Her story of bravery continues to be celebrated and reminisced proudly in the village, where local leaders and police officers also felicitated her. She will now travel to Delhi to be felicitated by the nation with the bravery award on January 17.

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