Mhonbeni Ezung age (8 years) of Orchid Colony, Wokha in Nagaland has been selected for the Bravery Award this year. She is among the 24 children from various states who were nominated for national bravery awards 2014.
During the winter vacation, Ms Mhonbeni had gone to stay with her grandmother at the latter’s village.
As the vacations were coming to an end, her grandmother decided to take her for an outing to Anunga river. Once there, they caught some fish and cooked their meal. Before having the lunch, her grandmother went to wash hands in the river. As her grandmother was washing her hands, her blood pressure suddenly shot up and she fell into the 5 ½ feet deep river. Seeing this, Mhonbeni shouted and ran to rescue her. She tried to pull the old lady out but because of her weight, Mhonbeni couldn’t hold her and she fell again into the river. However, she persisted with her effort and at last succeeded in bringing her out.
As her grandmother was not in a condition to go back to the village, Mhonbeni first gave her some food and then rushed to the village to get some help. She returned along with some villagers who took her grandmother to the hospital. Mhonbeni’s courageous action saved her grandmother’s life.
The children will be presented with the award by prime minister on the eve of republic day. The awardees will receive a medal, certificate and cash incentive. The children will take part in the republic day parade at Rajpath New Delhi. The awardees are granted financial assistance until they complete their schooling and ICCW also provides scholarship to those undertaking professional course, according to PIB (Defence Wing).