Every morning, some elderly Sikhs take a walk around their community in Calgary, Canada.
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They like to keep an eye on their neighborhood while they chat and get some exercise. One fateful day, their routine put them in exactly the right place at the right time!
A large stormwater pond sits in the middle of their neighborhood. On a chilly November morning, the men were shocked to see two teenagers struggling in the frigid water. The girls had fallen through the thin ice covering the surface and couldn’t make it to shore.
Kulbinder Bangar, who lives next door, witnessed the elderly men leap into action to save the girls’ lives!
The teens were calling out for help, a sound Kulbinder said she’ll never forget. “The screams were like a deathly scream,” she explained. “It was so terrifying, it’s hard to erase.”
While one of the men called 911, another grabbed a spare piece of siding from a renovation project and extended it over the water for the girls to grab.
When they couldn’t quite reach it, the men did something unthinkable in the Sikh faith: They started unraveling their turbans! Then they tied them together to make a rope long enough to get to the teens.
“In their Sikh faith, it’s a big thing to take your turban off, but they didn’t think for one moment,” Kulbinder said. “They just thought of saving her life.â€
Soon, another neighbor arrived with a garden hose, which proved to be a sturdier rope. That’s when all of them joined together to haul one girl to shore. The other teen was rescued by someone else not long after, and then both girls were sent to the hospital and later released. Experts said if the group hadn’t been there and reacted so quickly, the situation might have had a tragic ending.
“It was quite a terrifying experience, but at the same time, it was a wonderful experience to see these elderly citizens [who] went out of their way to help these young ladies,” Kulbinder added.
These men acted so selflessly to save complete strangers. We need this kind of neighborhood watch in every community! Well done, gentlemen!
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