Teenager saves woman from burning shack
He rushed toward the shack where the woman’s daughter pleaded with him to help her mother who was trapped inside.
Bongani Mtshali (17) performed an act of extraordinary bravery on July 13 when he rescued a woman from a burning shack in Never Never informal settlement.
The fire broke out on Saturday around 6pm.
Mtshali says he was sitting outside with his friends when they saw a fire blazing in a nearby shack.
He rushed toward the shack where the women’s daughter pleaded with him to help her mother who was trapped inside.
Mtshladi, a student at Hugenote High school, put his personal safety aside and made his way into the flaming shack to help the stricken women.
Also see: Three shacks burned down in Never Never
“When I walked in I immediately felt the flames.
“It was too hot and I had to walk back out.
“But her daughter was still outside crying so I ran back in and grabbed the women by the hand to pull her out.
“She was screaming and her head was on fire but we managed to put the fire out.”
Pastor Jonathan Coates says the women sustained serious burns to her arms, face and legs and is now in intensive care at hospital.
The high schooler’s heroics did not go unsung as Calvin Thompson from IT Solutions presented him with a tablet, a pair of headphones, a diary and a cap at the Geduld Methodist Church on Thursday afternoon as he was walking home from school.
Mtshladi is very humble about the event, and says he merely acted on instinct.
“I just wanted to save a life,” he says.
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