Manama: A Saudi man has refused to take a 5,000 riyal (Dh4,894) reward for rescuing a 10-year-old boy from drowning.
Essam Ahmad Gashi was on a trip with friends to the Juaimah beach in Ras Tanura in eastern Saudi Arabia when he heard a man and a woman shout frantically for help to save their son who was drowning.
The young boy was reportedly playing with a ball on the beach when it fell in the sea and he went after it to retrieve it. However, as he waded into the water, the waves pulled him in past the point where he could walk and pushed him under, prompting the parents to yell for help, local Arabic daily Al Sharq reported on Saturday.
Essam, a 36-year-old professional life guard with a local university, jumped in the sea, saved the boy and performed routine first aid checks before the father took his son to a local hospital.
However, when the grateful parents offered Essam the cheque to thank him for saving their son’s life, he refused, saying that he was content with their joy in having their son back.
“The father eventually pledged to host a special banquet in my honour to thank me, but I told him that there was no need for it either and that the fact that the young boy was safe and well was much more significant than the reward or the ceremony,” he told the Saudi daily.
