Inhaling the cool breeze, I stood at the top of the mountain taking in the enchanting and hypnotizing view laid there; like an antique in a museum –desirable and enviable.

Nevertheless a certain block caught my attention, cabbages like flowers with taro leaves adding to the already dominating green field.

A man stood at the middle of the grass land; sweating with dirty hands, humming to the invisible sound of music. He stood up, took a deep breath then started to turn his head as if he was looking for more space in the already filled compound.

A little child came into view, crying and walking towards the field looking hopeless and lost. At the sound of the soft and faint sob, the man stalked about where he was standing.

He offered a tomato, the youngie’s sobs increased. Turning around he started to grab anything in his view- tomatoes, bananas, star-fruit, watermelon, soursop- however the child’s cries increased.

An animalistic sound was heard; the little boy stopped crying and stared at the man with widened eyes that held a soundless plea for a hero. Before I could even blink, I saw the man jumping towards the child and hovered over him like an indestructible suit. The scene looked better than a Superman extract, it wasn’t cliché nor practised because it wasn’t fiction it was an act of a real hero.

It was an incident that captured my attention; Why? Because it was rare, and the most heroic act that I’ve ever heard of in our country. Reading through the recent article about the unforgettable act of a father, an uncle and a valued member in society; tears brimmed from my eyes.

I was captivated by the boldness and the discounting of one’s life just for the sake of the other.

When the bus crashed I half expected you to wrap your arms around that little baby, no wonder why they say never to judge a book by its cover.

Judgement wise I anticipated that you’d save yourself because call me heartless but only Jesus can lay down his life to save others willingly. However you’ve proven otherwise. You didn’t stop to think about the consequences of your actions rather you chose to the bigger person, you chose to be hero.

I hoped for you to stand up again like one of those superheroes in the movies, too bad superman and batman only exists in Hollywood. All the heroes had supernatural powers but your supernatural power was your love.

Your love was strong enough for you to hover over that child; your love was enough for you to take the fall. Even at your last breathe you were concerned, bothered and anxious if the child survived.

You were bleeding; the baby was fine, it was your last breath; it wasn’t his in this life. You cared, tended and oversaw the situation even on your death bed, I can only imagine the respectful smiles you put on everyone’s faces.

Sad, mournful and admiration filled my eyes because it was a million dollar sight. Born a man; died a hero, a title wanted by many but can only be attained by few.

Heroes aren’t meant to die at the end of any movie but even heroes need heroes sometimes and even the strong needs someone to tell them it’s all right. 

“In loving Memory of Tanielu Pati Seinafo - An Unforgettable Hero”