A Thoughtful Act! Cycling 6 Yr-old Kid runs over Chick, takes it to hospital to Save its Life, goes Viral
Mangaluru: Quoting Joseph Joubert, where he says, “Innocence is always unsuspicious.”, fits quite appropriate towards a story of a thoughtful act by a six-year-old boy from Mizoram that has gone viral on social media, where the young kid Derek C Lalchhanhima was captured on camera by a nurse at a hospital near his house when he rushed there seeking help for his neighbour’s chicken after he accidentally ran over it with his bicycle. This boy who has now won the hearts of people, for being been considered as a model of humanity and kindness, has so far received over 1 lakh reactions and 87,000 shares on Facebook.
And this kid who is a Class I student at St Pio School, Sairang which is about 20 km from Aizawl, the capital of Mizoram, a school which is run by the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin priests of Holy Trinity Province, headquartered in Bengaluru, and its headmaster is Fr Stuwart Prajwal Fernandes, hailing from Madanthyar, about 50 km from Mangaluru, was felicitated for his act of kindness and thoughtfulness in front of other students, teachers and staff of the school. The surprised boy was blissfully unaware about why there was so much attention towards him, sources reveal.
Speaking to Team Mangalorean over the phone from Sairang, headmaster of the boy’s school, Fr Stuwart Fernandes narrating about the whole story said, “This young boy accidentally ran over his neighbour’s chicken, and took the chicken back to his house. His parents were reluctant to tell their child that the chicken was dead and asked him to go to the hospital by himself if he wanted. To their great surprise, the emotional boy did so without any hesitation after grabbing all the money he could – a ten rupee note. He quickly ran to the nearby hospital alone with the chicken in one hand and a ten rupee note in the other, unaware that it was too late to help the bird”.
Fr Fernandes further said, “The surprised hospital staff asked the sobbing Derek to return home. But he once again decided to set out to help the bird, this time with Rs 100 when his parents finally explained to him that there is nothing he can do. Seeing Derek’s kind gesture and thoughtfulness, we decided to felicitate him with a traditional Mizo shawl, in the presence of his parents, during the school assembly. Derek is the son of Dhiraj Chhetry, a police officer, and Ms Lalnunpuii, a homemaker. He stays with his parents in the police quarters and everyday cycles to school. Other day, after school hours, he was riding his cycle around his house, during which he ran over his neighbour’s chick. And rest was history”.
“During the felicitation, we spoke about Derek and his kind act, in order to bring awareness among other students on how one should be humane, not just to humans but also other living beings. I assume that Derek might have got the idea of taking the chick to the hospital as he lived near one and may have seen his dad taking injured persons there. But no matter what this kind of thoughtfulness by a small child need to be commended and appreciated. Not only us at the School appreciated Derek’s kind act, even people all over the world started pouring in messages of love and affection for the boy as more and more people shared the photo on social media” added Fr Fernandes.
No wonder, this story of the six-year-old boy taking an injured chicken to a hospital with all the money he had, had touched a chord with people on the Internet and it didn’t take too long for him to become a sensation. At the age of 6, Derek C Lalchhanhima did make headlines for his simple act of honesty and compassion. Like it is said, “No man knows the value of innocence and integrity but he who has lost them.”!
In conclusion, in my perspective related to this story, “They say that God often heeds the prayers of young kids. The reason cited is pretty simple and straightforward. Children are innocent and their hearts are pure, un-corrupted by the world’s twisted ways of existence. Their earnest wishes, and innocence make them God’s most favourite subjects. Not sure about the bit involving God, but everything that has been said about young kids being truthful and full of innocence and goodness is absolutely true. Above all else, kids are honest about their thoughts and selfless with the love and kindness that they have to share.
And this rather strange incident from Northeast (Mizoram) is proof of all this that we just pointed out. We hope this boy and many others grow up feeling for every living being around them, and grow up to be young men and women who respect and care for every life on earth. A user wrote, “this kind of humanity, innocent and pure”, while another blessed the young boy in the comments. Many others have praised the little boy’s parents for raising a child who knows how to care, while another user suggested that adults take a lesson from the kid. How a thoughtful act has brought so many people together.
Team Mangalorean also commends the thoughtful idea of Fr Stuwart Fernandes and the school management in felicitating their student Derek for his simple act of compassion, gesture and thoughtfulness to a non-human being.
