Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Chi Thanh raised the Vietnamese national flag when returning with the delegation of the Ministry of Public Security of Vietnam, completing the international mission in Türkiye. Photo: Provided by the character
Think of the victim first
In early May, the meal of the Fire Prevention and Rescue Team (PC07) was interrupted by an emergency alarm. “There was just a drowning incident in District 5, everyone hurry up” - Lieutenant Colonel Thanh announced.
Putting down their bowls of rice, the whole team immediately got their uniforms and equipment, got in the car within 1 minute to get to the scene. After completing the mission, they returned to the unit in the middle of the night. Mr. Thanh shared with us that it was one of the “lightest” working days for the team. Because there were rescue cases that he and his teammates had to carry out for many days in a row, in extremely dangerous circumstances.
Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Chi Thanh is originally from Thai Binh, born and raised in Cu Chi (HCMC). His family used to live along the Saigon River. Many times he witnessed people drowning, their bodies were no longer intact after many days of searching, especially when his relatives also drowned - very heartbreaking. "That image made me feel heartbroken", he emotionally recalled, saying that it was the motivation that urged him to pursue a career in rescue.
After graduating from grade 12, due to family difficulties, Nguyen Chi Thanh did not take the university entrance exam but stayed home to work for a living. In 2001, he joined the People's Public Security Forces, then was assigned to work as a firefighter at the Fire Prevention and Fighting Team, Fire Prevention and Fighting Center 23, Ho Chi Minh City Police.
In April 2002, he was assigned to carry out firefighting duties at U Minh Thuong National Forest in Kien Giang - the first difficult task of his career. At that time, he and 30 officers, 20 pumps and 3 fire trucks set out to "go to battle". The rescue site had rugged forest terrain, a large area, dense trees, deep mud, and many dangerous animals and plants... while firefighting tools could not be deployed, and fire trucks could not approach the scene...
“We had to use manpower to dig a 4km water channel into the forest, placing a fire pump every 200m,” he recalled.
In the forest, mosquitoes were everywhere, there was no water to bathe, living conditions were extremely difficult, he had a high fever and had to go to the emergency room. However, after leaving the medical station, he volunteered to return to put out the fire. After many days, Thanh and his teammates successfully completed the mission, protecting 700 hectares of primary forest and preventing the fire from spreading to 10,000 hectares of planted forest.
In October 2002, Nguyen Chi Thanh participated in firefighting and rescue operations at the ITC International Trade Center (District 1). He and his teammates rescued nearly 200 trapped people. “That is one of the memories I will never forget,” he said.
With 23 years in the profession, Mr. Thanh confided that when facing a victim, he doesn't have time to think about himself, he only thinks about how to save their life as quickly as possible, or at least bring the victim back to their family...
Hope to dedicate my life to this profession
The case of retrieving the remains of a young man who fell into a deep abyss in Cao Bang in 2019 is proof of what he said. Mr. Thanh assessed that this was the most difficult rescue case in Vietnam, unprecedented, because the victim had been dead in the cave for nearly 3 years, with no means of getting down. The cave was over 220m deep, almost vertical and narrow, with some places only 50-60cm wide.
“I knew that going down the cave would be dangerous, that if there was a lack of oxygen, we would die or that if the vehicle had a problem, we wouldn't be able to go up, not to mention encountering obstacles and strange objects in the cave that we didn't anticipate... but if we stopped, the victim would stay there forever, and the pain of the victim's family would last forever, so I volunteered to go down,” he said.
It took him about 2 hours to get down to the cave, using his hands to dig and pick up each piece of the victim's bones buried under nearly 1 meter of rock. "When the victim was brought up, his family ran to me, knelt down, clasped their hands and thanked me. But I think simply, when people need it, it is difficult, dangerous, or even sacrificial, but I still do it" - Lieutenant Colonel Thanh emphasized.
Recalling the time he and the Vietnamese Ministry of Public Security delegation participated in the search and rescue operation of the earthquake disaster in Türkiye, Mr. Thanh said that it was a trip he would never forget in his life. Upon arrival, the whole team had not yet had time to rest before starting the search in temperatures of -6 degrees Celsius, without electricity or water, and had to live in temporary tents.
The team was assigned to a location that many other countries had searched before but had not found any life. “With the team’s efforts, we dug from dawn to dusk, cut iron, used body temperature detectors, used our senses to detect victims and a miracle happened,” he emotionally recounted.
The team approached and rescued the 17-year-old boy from the rubble, to the joy of the victim's family, local authorities, and international rescue forces. Afterwards, he continued to search for 14 bodies with the team.
Lieutenant Colonel Thanh said that at that time, the Turkish Government and people, as well as international friends, highly appreciated the sense of responsibility, capacity, modern means and professionalism of the Vietnamese delegation.
Nguyen Chi Thanh was injured countless times, falling from the 3rd floor, having spinal injuries, having his legs and arms cut off, having coughs, pneumonia... but after that, whenever he was summoned, he was ready to go.
On June 13, 2023, Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Chi Thanh - Deputy Captain of the Fire Fighting and Rescue Team (CNCH), Fire Prevention, Fighting and Rescue Police Department of Ho Chi Minh City Police (PC07) was the only individual among 7 groups and individuals to be awarded the title "Hero of the People's Armed Forces" by the President. Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Chi Thanh is one of the individuals nominated for honor in this year's Vietnam Glory program.
Source: https://laodong.vn/cong-doan/vinh-quang-viet-nam-2024-anh-hung-cuu-hoa-nguyen-chi-thanh-hon-20-nam-tan-hien-voi-nghe-1339078.ldo
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