The heroic act of Sabit Shontakbayev, who saved a three-year-old child from falling from an eighth-floor window on the morning of May 11 in the Kazakh capital Nur-Sultan, has gone viral on social media platforms.
According to the Khabar TV channel, Wwile her mother had gone shopping, a three-year-old girl used cushions and toys to climb out of the window, following which she was left hanging from her fingertips.
Shontakbayev, 36, was reportedly on his way to work when he saw a crowd gathered beneath watching in horror as the toddler clung to the window ledge. He immediately rushed to rescue her.
In a heart-stopping video clip, while the girl is seen hanging by the ledge, Shontakbayev is seen stepping out of the window – just a floor below her house – and attempting to reach out to her. The entire footage showed the toddler hanging on for her life as Shontakbayev climbed outside, stood on the window below, and urged the little one to let go.
The video even showed the samaritan tugging the three-year-old’s right leg as the distance between the windows is nearly about three feet. Seconds into the footage, the girl is then seen letting go off her grip. Shontakbayev catches the three-year-old in a swift motion and then passes on the child inside the room to someone’s waiting hands.
“My friend and I knocked on the neighbors’ door living on the seventh floor. I climbed through the balcony to the girl. I did not have a safety belt, so my friend was holding my legs. At that moment I did not think about anything, I just wanted to help the child,” Shontakbayev told the Kazinform agency.
Shontakbayev, who moved to Nur-Sultan from the Kyzylorda Region to work as a construction worker two weeks ago, said he does not consider his action to be heroic as everyone should lend a helping hand in such situation.
On the same day, Shontakbayev was awarded the Totenshe Zhagdaidagy Erligi Ushin (For Heroism in Emergencies) badge by First Vice-Minister for Emergency Situations of Kazakhstan Ibragim Kulshimbayev in the ministry’s building.
He also met with Mayor of Nur-Sultan, Altai Kulginov, who expressed his gratitude to Shontakbayev for heroism and courage.
Kulginov said the akimat (city administration) will provide assistance to Shontakbayev.
“Taking into account the education and experience of Sabit, we have agreed with the locomotive production plant director about his future employment. Previously, Shontakbayev worked at Kazakhstan Temir Zholy (KTZ), the country’s national railroad and logistics company, so he has experience in this field,” said Kulginov.
Kulginov also promised to help bring Shontakbayev’s family – his wife and four children – to the capital, help repay the family’s debts and send his children to the Burabai resort area in the summer. Shontakbayev also received a three-bedroom apartment from the local construction company.
