Courageous Kamal!

Girl rescued from 60-feet gorge after 22 hours

Pokhara, June 25:

In a rare act of bravery, a 13-year-old boy rescued a two-and-a-half-year old girl, who had fallen into a Seti river gorge at Nayagaun of Pokhara yesterday. The boy, Kamal Nepali, rescued Aradhana Pradhan of Pokhara Birauta at 12 pm today, 22 hours after she fell into the gorge.
Nepali was assisted in his mission by a Nepal Canoeing Association team, Nepal Police, Army, Armed Police Force and locals. The canoeing team had come all the way from Kathmandu to rescue the girl, who had fallen into the gorge at 2 pm yesterday. The army, police and technical experts
had given up hope of rescuing the girl, but the boy went down into the gorge with the help of a rope and rescued the girl, who was stuck at a depth of 60 feet, half an hour later.
“I saw Aradhana lying flat with her face down. I put her in a basket and took her out,” Nepali said. Kamal sustained minor injuries on his left leg and was administered oxygen at the Manipal Hospital. The locals had put up tents at the site throughout the night to help the security personnel and rescue team.
Born in an impoverished farming family in Tutunga of Pokhara, Kamal is the youngest son of Nil Bahadur and Man Kumari Nepali and a first-grader at the Siddha secondary school here.
The waiting masses took out Kamal Nepali in a procession at the Pokhara bazaar after the rescue act.
Aradhana had come with her parents to the Seti banks for a cremation.
The girl’s father John Pradhan said her daughter probably fell into the gorge when he was consoling the bereaved family. John is a Christian pastor.
The girl is now undergoing treatment in Manipal teaching hospital. The hospital said the girl
would be treated for free, adding that she was recovering. Aradhana’s parents have pledged to adopt Kamal Nepali.
Birauta-based Shishu Niketan boarding school announced free schooling for Kamal up to grade X. Donations have been pouring from different parts of the country for this braveheart. A sum of Rs 45,000 had been collected as of this evening.

source: The Himalayan Times