A Brave Act: (By Ethan Khoo)

The blistering sun beat down mercilessly as we scrambled to unravel our firefighting
hose-lines. In front of us stood an apartment building that was being consumed by a raging
fire. Large crowds of onlookers, along with the residents who had evacuated the building,
had gathered in front of the block.

At that moment, a young lady in her twenties rushed up to my colleagues and me. She
cried loudly, “My son… my son is still trapped in the building!” As she wept profusely, tears
trickled down her cheeks.

After I heard what she said about that incident, I advised her to stay calm. While my
colleagues comforted her, I mustered my courage and told myself that I had to go into the
house and save the women’s baby. Fear gnawed onto me as I slowly approached my worst
nightmare. Flames were leaping out of the house ferociously.

As I took my first step into the building, blazing, hot fire greeted me, and I felt that I
was about to die. Instantly, I scanned the perimeter of the building to find the baby.
Instead, dark plumes of smoke covered my face. My efforts were to no avail.

“Waah! Waah!” the baby bawled loudly. The wails of the baby reverberated across the
whole building. The bawling alerted me and I ran as fast as lightning to him. That area was
surrounded with heavy and thick smoke. After I carried the baby up, he stopped crying and
I dashed down the stairs quickly. The fire kept getting in my face as I climbed countless
stairs, feeling very tired.

At the eleventh hour, when I felt suffocated and fatigue, I felt that I was about to
collapse. Determined to carry the baby to safety, I summoned the last vestiges of my
strength and used it to push me forward to the exit. At that moment, I felt breathless and
my heart stopped beating for a second.

After what seemed like an eternity, I finally burst out of the building, and everyone
rejoiced happily. The baby’s mother enveloped him in a hug. Happiness filled me as I saw the
baby united with his mother.

His mother came forward to me and wet tears of joy and relief. “Thank you! Thank you,
firefighter! Your brave act saved my son’s life and allowed me to see my son again!” thanked
the woman profusely. Smiling weakly, I told her that it was my duty to save her son.

A few weeks later, the baby’s mother nominated me as the bravest firefighter. I went up
on stage and received my award proudly. I was really thankful that she would nominate me
to get this award.

I felt incredibly grateful and blessed to be able to save lives through my work. I was
very honoured to receive the most courageous firefighter award! I could not forget this
unforgettable day that I acted bravely in face of danger. I hope that I can continue to
save many lives as a firefighter.