Brave Saudi woman loses her life in a bid to rescue siblings during a car accident
She sacrificed herself for us. My heroine was not like the girls of her time, father says
Dubai: A 21-year-old Saudi woman, Rima Manna Rashid, heroically lost her life trying to rescue her siblings during a tragic car accident on a family vacation in the Asir region. Rima was on the brink of starting a new job at King Khalid International Airport after the end of the summer vacation. However, a devastating incident curtailed her prospects.
Rima and her family had gone to spend the summer vacation in the village of Haswa, in the province of Rijal Almaa. On the way to Haswa, the family's car broke down at the top of a mountain. Rima's father and elder brother, Rashid, left the car to identify the cause of the malfunction, and within a few moments, the car began to slide down the mountainside.
Rima bravely attempted to rescue her siblings, starting with 12-year-old Linda and then Ahmed, who is currently hospitalized due to injuries sustained during the incident. Sadly, Rima was not able to save herself. According to her father, she could have easily escaped, being closest to the car door, but chose to prioritize the safety of her siblings over her own.
"She sacrificed herself for us. My heroine was not like the girls of her time. She always put her brothers before herself, even when it came to her university rewards," said Rima's grieving father.
A family relative Yahya Al Jarai also shared his account of the tragic event. "Rima, known for her love for her family and her sacrifice for them, played the role of a mother to her siblings. She defended them until her last breath."
The car fell more than 400 meters down the mountainside, flipping over thrice. While Ahmed managed to survive the fall, Rima succumbed to a head injury. She was later buried in her father's Karama Cemetery.
Issa Al Hadi Al Assiri, director of the media department at the Education of Rijal Almaa, paid tribute to Rima in a tweet. He wrote, "Rima was one of the citizens of this great homeland. Like any ambitious girl, she was preparing to start her work, but altruism was the master of her qualities. She fought death to save her brothers, and this is what she did at the last moment of her life."