Pretoria - The National Disability Heroes Award 2015 was presented to Thabang Moruti on Friday in recognition of his heroic act in risking his life to go into a burning school and save the lives of 13 deaf girls.
Moruti, who is in Grade 12 at the North West Secondary School for the Deaf in Leeudoringstad, told African News Agency that, for him, his award symbolised that “deaf people can achieve anything”.
He recounted in South African Sign Language (SASL) how he woke up after midnight, around 1am in the morning on August 24, 2015, and realised the girls hostel was on fire.
Moruti was a delegate at the National Disability Rights Summit this week and shared his experience of what happened that night.
He said he just woke up without the help of warning lights, which should be in place at a school for the deaf in case of an emergency, and realised that the building had caught alight.
“I ran outside and climbed up a tree outside the building to the second floor into the building and brought each girl outside, down the tree.”
Thinking back, the shy 21-year-old hero said the experience had “sparked an interest in firefighting”.
He said he wanted to become a firefighter and play a role in educating people with disabilities in communities, especially deaf people, about the importance of fire safety.
Moruti said that during the summit he had learnt the importance of equal rights for people with disabilities.
“Deaf and hearing people should be equal,” he said. The rights of people with disabilities should not lag behind the rights of able-bodied people.
African News Agency