An unidentified British Lady rescued a Somali Toddler from a burning house in Tottenham

[Naxar Nugaaleed]

Mystery heroine risks life to rescue toddler from burning house

Rob Parsons and Mark Blunden

1 Jul 2011

 

 

A woman risked her life to enter a blazing building and rescue a two-year-old boy.

 

CCTV footage shows the unidentified woman rushing into a blazing house in Tottenham to save Arafat Hassan, who was stranded inside.

 

The toddler was fighting for his life today in intensive care after suffering severe burns when the blaze swept through his family's terrace home in Antill Road yesterday afternoon.

 

The courageous woman was helped in the rescue by a paramedic and a chef from a nearby restaurant, who also ran into the blazing building.

Neighbours said she was driving past the house when she heard Arafat's pregnant mother screaming for help. The boy's father, Sadir Hassan, was apparently struggling to get inside, having been beaten back by the flames while helping other

people to get out of the house.

 

According to eyewitnesses, the woman, wearing blue jeans and a green vest top, leapt from her car and ran inside with little thought for her own safety.

 

She appeared moments later carrying the child and took him to a restaurant across the street. Josh Berkovits, a paramedic, also helped to get Arafat to safety and gave emergency medical treatment.

 

Mr Berkovits, 35, who works with Hatzola, a local ambulance service run by the Jewish community, cut off the boy's clothes, applied burns gel to his wounds and wrapped him in cling film to stop infection.

 

"The boy had burns to about 80 per cent of his body," said Mr Berkovits. "When we got him to the restaurant he stopped screaming. He had breathed in a lot of smoke so was very quiet."

 

The chef, Javier Fajardo-Toledo, 40, from Ecuador, said: "When the lady got the baby into the restaurant I tried to help but he was burnt very badly. The lady was really brave, she didn't think twice."

 

Four fire engines and 20 firefighters were called to the blaze, which destroyed the two-storey house. Today, the Hassan family, believed to be from Somalia, said the mystery woman was "amazing" but were too shocked to comment further.

 

Neighbour Matthew Miller said: "The little boy was so badly burned, all over his face and arms, but he was totally quiet.

 

"What all three people did was amazingly brave, they are heroes. Most people just

 

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23966473-mystery-heroine-risks-life-to-rescue-toddler-from-burning-house.do

[NGONGE]

I read this story the other day but thought the child was Turkish (norf laandhan and all that). Nice woman.

[x-madiino]

i saw this news in the dailymail before two days,, but they didn't mention that the family is somalian but i thought the family was somalian or arab since the name of the father was familiar....

thanx to allah and to that brave lady,,

[-Lily-]

Poor baby, 80% burns . What baffels me is how the mother got out of the house without her child...and the father.

[Juxa]

^^naftu wey macaantahay i guess

 

It was on metro and it said the child waa somali! i wonder what happened, was it accidental fire or intentional taloow?

[Aaliyyah]

I refuse to believe that a mother or a father would get out from a burning house while leaving their child. I would rather assume the mother went to grab something from somewhere and left her baby sleeping (Even that is neglecting the child!) but better than believing she run out without her baby..I can't imagine even a heartless women would do that. Parents love their kids more than anyone of us can ever imagine!

 

either way, mashallah ina liklu nafsin ajalin musama, this child was meant to live. Amazing woman between who puts her life in danger for someone else's baby!..after all there are good ppl in this world!..

 

salaam

[Juxa]

eh sometimes the flames are too high, the smoke is too thick. add that with panic and we cant judge

 

I know mothers or fathers that jumped out of window or were unable to go upstairs to fetch the child as they cont breathe. sometimes the parents get rescued first.

 

allah knows best

[Complicated]

The boy's father, Sadir Hassan, was apparently struggling to get inside, having been beaten back by the flames

while helping other people to get out of the house

.

Allaha u sahlo reerkan dhibku ku habsaday.

[Showqi]

Waa maqadiir, illaahay ha caafiyo ilmaha yar ee gubtay.

[Aaliyyah]

Perhaps Juxa. Insha'allah alle hanaga alaaliyo dhacdintaas oo kale . wa mid aad u adag in uu walid ilmihisa cawin kari wayo oo naftiisa uun la cararo..inshallah alle cafiyo ilmaha yarna. waan usoo duceynaya.

 

salaam

[Juxa]

aamiin aaliyah!

 

i see alot of somali parents burying their kids, they all said caruurtaada haku aasto aan islahaa, but hey qadar allah must be accepted.