Bravery Award For Akash Khillare Who Risked His Life To Save A Mother, Baby From Drowning

Teenager Akash Khillare from Maharashtra's Aurangabad is no ordinary teenager. At such a young age, he has earned praise and respect for his act of bravery. Without thinking about himself at all, Akash risked his life and saved a mother and her toddler from drowning, a feat for which he will be getting a bravery award at the hands of Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a glittering Republic Day function in the national capital.

On January 22, 2018, Akash, then a Class X student, was passing by Dudhna river on his way to school in Navgavhan when he saw Renuka Mhaske and her three-year-old daughter Shraddha drowning in almost thirty feet of water.

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"I just jumped into the river right away with my schoolbag still on my back and managed to pull them out of distress. I was told later that the child had fallen into the river and the mother had jumped in to save her but got caught in the currents," he told news agency PTI.

"My 75-year-old grandfather Pandharinath Khillare, for some reason, would stop me from learning swimming but I went ahead and took to the water without his knowledge. Now my swimming has got me an award for valor. That moment when I saved two lives is the happiest in my life," an elated Akash said.

His father Macchindra Khillare sells bananas to make ends meet but for the past few days is over the moon with excitement as news came in that Akash would be cynosure of all eyes at the function in Delhi.

"We could never dream of going to Delhi for such a function. But we are. This is the happiest moment of my life," the proud father said.

His mother Ramabai, recounting the events of January 22 afternoon, said the family did not get to know about their son's heroic feat till evening that day.

"We were at first worried that our child had jumped into a deep river. But the fact that he saved two lives makes us proud to this day," she said.

Mukundwadi resident Akash, who studies in Government Industrial Training Institute here in Aurangabad and works five hours part-time in a cloth store, wants to be an Indian Police Service officer when he grows up.

"I have decided to keep the cash I will get as part of the award to appear for competitive exams to fulfill my dream of being an IPS officer," he said.

The National Bravery Awards are a set of awards given annually since 1957 by the Union government to children below 16 years of age for "meritorious acts of bravery against all odds."