By: Foday Manneh
Ali Carew, a Gambian from Kumbija village in the Upper River Region, has said he was on Thursday, April 28, 2022, awarded the Sheriff Medal of Heroism in the US for saving the life of an 11-year-old child.
The award was reportedly given to him at the King County Sheriff’s Office in Seattle Washington State.
Ali claimed that on August 30, 2021, he jumped from his 4th-story balcony to rescue the child from the mother who attempted to kill him.
“They were on the 3rd floor and we live on the 4th one. I came back from work around 11 am and I decided to take a nap. Suddenly, I heard a child crying and calling for help. I thought I was dreaming, woke up, and looked through my window.
“I saw a woman who had tied the neck of a child with a rope against an iron bar and was attempting to push the child down. That was how I rushed and jumped to their balcony. I pushed the woman away and untied the child.
“I asked her: ‘What’s the matter?’ She simply responded: ‘My child, I want to kill him”, Ali recalled.
‘’The rope hurt the child’s neck when I untied him. So I held the child, even as the woman was threatening to kill me, until the police arrived at the scene, took my statement, and left.
“Recently, they were going to court, and it was confirmed that the woman was struggling with mental health and that the child and his little brother were taken away from her.”
Ali also talked about the risk he had taken to jump from his 4th-story deck to save the child’s life.
‘’What I did was risky. If I fall from that place, I would’ve died because I jumped from the 4th to the 3rd floor, and below is a concrete landing.
“However, I had not thought twice because I knew if the woman was having a gun, she could have used it to kill the child. So when I realized she did not have that, I decided to go for the child’s life. But it was really risky.”
Ali added: ‘’The award will help for my integration into the United States. I haven’t done it for that, but then your good deeds pay dividends. I am happy to receive the award.
“I have people calling me thinking that I was given a lot of money, but no; I only received an award for a noble act. I am grateful for that.’’ Ali concluded.
