PHOTO: NZHERALD//Daljit Singh
Daejon Pahia suffered a severe head wound after he was struck by a four-wheel drive as he crossed a road just before 9am on Friday. Daejon’s mother believes she owes her sons life to the actions of Harman Singh.
Singh, 22, who lived close to the site of the accident, heard the crash and rushed to the site to find the little boy bleeding profusely from his head. Singh decided to break strict religious protocol and removed his turban to stop the bleeding.
PHOTO: NZHERALD
Passerby and fellow Sikh Gagan Dhillon was so moved by seeing Mr Singh's uncovered head and his orange turban being used as a bandage that he took a photo.
Singh's actions have been praised around the world as an emblematic act of humanity, and Daejon's mother, Shiralee, has also contacted him to thank him.
"I just really want to thank him because I know it's against his religion to take that kind of stuff off so I just really want to thank him because if it wasn't for him my son wouldn't be here," she told the Herald.
Daejon was in a stable condition in a hospital last night after undergoing surgery for a fractured skull, 12 deep head wounds and a lacerated kidney.
His mother said arriving at the scene of the accident "felt like a nightmare".
"I was just shocked, I just went into my own little world, I didn't say anything to anybody, I was just pulling my head together. It just felt like a nightmare."
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She said her family were still in shock. "I'm just glad he is all right and I'm grateful for those people who helped him. Everyone is just glad he is still here."
One of his Daejon’s older sisters was with him when he was hit, and was still very upset by the ordeal.
Daejon was talking and regaining his appetite but Mrs Pahia said he was too upset to talk about the accident.
"He doesn't want anybody to talk about it. We tried to talk to him about it but he just turns away, he doesn't want to hear about it."
He is expected to be released from hospital by the end of the week, but a full recovery will take time.
Singh has been swamped with messages of support and appreciation from around the world since the incident.
PHOTO: NZHERALD/Michael Craig
"I have had a lot of calls, a lot of messages. People are saying, 'I'm proud of you, bro' and saluting me - I can't even reply to all of the messages but I want to say that I am not a hero, I just wanted to get there for him and help the little boy."
Singh emphasised that other members of the public would be just as willing to help in emergency situations, and that he did not think twice about removing his turban.
"I wasn't thinking about the turban. I was thinking about the accident and I just thought, 'He needs something on his head because he's bleeding'. That's my job - to help. And I think anyone else would have done the same as me."
The article originally appeared on The New Zealand Herald
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