SCDF award for 12-year-old who helped accident victims

SINGAPORE — Twelve-year-old Ashvin Gunasegaran was heading home after school with his friends when two cars collided violently at the junction of Yishun Avenue 2 and Yishun Ring Road at about 1pm on Tuesday (May 31).

Ashvin looked around to see if anyone was going to help, but all he saw were people whipping out their phones to take photos of the accident.

That was when the Yishun Primary School student decided to go forward to offer his assistance, even though his friends warned him that it was too dangerous.

Waiting until it was safe, the Primary 6 schoolboy ran over to the accident scene and found one driver stuck inside the car because the door was jammed.

While Ashvin could not open the door, he stayed with the driver, who was pregnant, until the ambulance arrived.

The story of Ashvin’s kind deed became public, when a Facebook post by his sister Laavanya on the incident went viral.

Ms Laavanya, 25, said she loved the fact that her brother was so kind and calm during the whole situation.

“I’m so proud of my little brother,” she wrote in a post that had been shared more than 2,000 times since Tuesday afternoon.

For his efforts in helping the accident victims, Ashvin was presented with the Public Spiritedness Award by the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) on Thursday.

Speaking at the award ceremony, Lt-Col Eric Chua, Commander of the 3rd SCDF Division, said he was very surprised and very happy that a 12-year-old would step forward to offer assistance.

“You are never too young to be somebody who renders a helping hand,” noted Lt-Col Chua. “You have let your heart of gold shine through, and we hope more people do likewise.”

Interviewed after the awards ceremony, Ashvin explained that he went over to help because “no one was helping them”.

“They weren’t screaming for help so I was scared that this accident might be fatal ... I went there to see whether they were OK or not,” he added.

Ashvin’s mother, Madam Swares Helen Louisa, 50, said she had raised him to be helpful and kind, and was proud to see that he was both.

“He is my hero in the house now,” she said.