MERSING: Asha Fida’ Nu Rayyan Mohd Ismadi, the smart and plucky 4-year-old who saved her mother from a fire at home, was the recipient of the Special Children’s Award during the state’s World Children’s Day celebration.
State secretary Datuk Ismail Karim, who was representing Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin, presented the award to Asha at a ceremony at Seri Alam Hotel in Johor Baru, recently.
On Nov 8, Asha was in the living room and her mother Rusni Md Yasin, 40, was in the bathroom when fire broke out at their house in Welfare Department quarters, Desa Bina Diri, here.
The girl saw smoke coming out of the reading room and promptly alerted the mother by banging on the bathroom door.
Rusni, a teacher at SK Sri Pantai, said she immediately grabbed Asha, the youngest of her four children, and ran out of the house.
She said she did not expect the state government to award her daughter for bravery.
Asha’s father Mohd Ismadi Ismail, 40, said his daughter was a brave and active girl.
“Her courageous behaviour was reported in the newspapers. The award has touched and made us proud,” he said.
Ismadi was attending an event at a hotel with his son, while his two daughters aged 8 and 10 were at school for co-curricular activities at the time of the incident.
Ismadi said he rushed home upon receiving a call from Rusni about the incident and was shocked to find that the reading room and the family Perodua Myvi had been destroyed by fire. By Mohd Sah Muda