Toronto Sun: May 10, 2007!
Boy has place of honour in brave company!
11-year-old receives Toronto Police service award!
By JACK BOLAND, SUN MEDIA
 An
11-year-old Scarborough boy who drowned is being recognized for his
self-sacrificing act of bravery. Along with 105 Toronto Police officers,
firefighters, EMS workers and 18 community members that little boy --
Birunthan Muralidaran -- received a service award last night from
Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair at police headquarters.
"This award is not about us -- it is about Birunthan and his family," said
Const. Jennifer Anderson, who was one of a quartet of officers who braved a
frigid pond in northeast Scarborough that swallowed up Kishoban Alakeswaran, 15,
and his friend Birunthan on Dec. 10, 2006.
"He is the hero. He never hesitated to help his friend," Anderson said. "He
didn't understand the dangerous consequences of going out on the (thin) ice (to
rescue his friend."
The two boys had cut across the pond at Wharnsby Park, near Morningside and
Finch Aves., to play soccer with friends when Alakeswaran plunged through the
ice. A resident, watched as Birunthan slid out on the ice to rescue his friend,
but he too, went through the thin ice. At that point police were called.
Anderson and fellow officers Ferderick Hillier, Trevor Morrison, and Mark Tan
and neighbour Phillip Hall tried to rescue the boys and fell in themselves but
kept pushing on breaking the ice to make a path to the submerged boys. A boat
was launched to help pull the boys from the water.
Both died within hours of each other.
Birunthan's father Muralidaran Nadarajah said he was proud of the officers'
efforts to save his son. The family -- Muralidaran, his wife and three teenaged
children -- were recently granted Canadian citizenship. "If I could give up the
status or my son, I would want my son's life back," Muralidaran said without
hestitation.
Courtesy: Toronto Sun. Com
http://www.torontosun.ca/News/TorontoAndGTA/2007/05/10/4168029-sun.html |
Pathivugal ISSN 1481-2991
