Inspector hailed as a hero after saving drowning woman, child
ras al khaimah — An Arab woman and her five-year-old daughter were rescued from drowning off the Institute beach in Ras Al Khaimah by an inspector late on Sunday.
The inspector with the ‘Raqib’ or ‘Monitor’ environment patrol of the department of public works and services heard the calls for help from the woman in her 40s and her daughter. “I didn’t think twice and ran to the sea in my full uniform to rescue the woman and her daughter,” Ismael Al Balochi, the inspector, told Khaleej Times.
“It was really hard to do so because of the darkness as well as the strong and high waves,” he added. “What I did was not heroic; it was just a normal humanitarian response which anyone else in my place would have done.”
Al Balochi was on duty patrolling the beach to keep it clean and curb any anti-environment violations when he heard screams for help. “It was around 7pm when I heard a scream and saw a crowd of people at the beach,” he said. “I immediately rode my quadbike towards the crowd, where I found a woman and her daughter struggling in the water and shouting for help.”
The inspector rushed to the water and swam for about 50 metres until he reached the duo. “I managed to reach the woman and her daughter in a few minutes. They were in a state of shock and looked exhausted,” he said. “I held them tightly and assured them that I would take them to the shore safely.”
Al Balochi first rescued the girl and handed her over to her “terrified father” who was helpless because he did not know how to swim to rescue them. “I went back for the woman, but could not identify her location because of the dark sea and high waves until I heard her scream.”
The inspector swam towards the woman and rescued her, too. “It was more difficult the second time around because the waves had got rougher.” The story of the brave inspector has gone viral on social media. “He is a brave man and deserves to be honoured,” said Abdullah Al Shemeili, an Emirati. ahmedshaaban@khaleejtimes.com