Orlando Brown admits that he never dreamt of one day being a special guest at King’s House, and on National Heroes’ Day at that. All he was focused on was saving a little boy from raging flood waters in the Sandy Gully late one Saturday evening last year.

Merl Grove student Antini Henderson had a similar concern in January this year when, after getting her younger siblings out of danger shortly after their house caught fire, she dashed back into the inferno to save her 15-year-old mentally challenged sister who was asleep in the back room of the three-bedroom dwelling.

Yesterday, both local heroes displayed pride and humility as they each accepted the Badge of Honour for Gallantry at the annual National Honours and Awards Ceremony at King’s House.

“I was always watching this on TV. I never know the day would come that I would be here getting an award,” Brown told the

Jamaica Observer.

“I’m feeling so great. I didn’t expect this.”

The 26-year-old Ackee Walk, St Andrew resident received the award for saving 12-year-old David Johnson from the flooded Sandy Gully last year.

His act of bravery was first reported in the Jamaica Observer. Brown was inside his house as heavy rain pelted the Corporate Area on October 5, 2015 when he heard frantic screams on the outside and went to ascertain what was wrong.

The screams were those of the child who had been dragged by the heavy water from the Manning’s Hill area.

Brown, ignoring the advice of others, braved the flooded gully to rescue David who, by this time, had drifted to the middle of the gully and was able to grab hold of an object.

“I’m gonna always say is just the mercy of God that help me that day,” Brown said as he recalled the incident. “I swear I do not know what took place at that time, but I know that is just the mercy of God that help me to do everything.

“Sometimes I look back and I walk to the gully side and I wonder how I did it, but I always tell myself nothing beats a trial but a failure,” he added.

The rescued boy was rushed to hospital by police. It was later revealed that he ended up in the gully in an attempt to save his dog and was pulled from the edge of the gully by raging flood waters.

His family told the Observer that he and two friends had braved the heavy rain and had gone to the gully, at Whitehall Avenue, to locate the animal that his mother had thrown into the flooded waterway out of frustration.

But what they expected to be a simple rescue mission turned into a nightmare.

Brown was a symbol of humility yesterday as he received his award and was also grateful for other gestures of appreciation he has received.

“Yeah, I get a lot of things. There are a lot of good feelings, like they call me, I do a lot of interviews on radio and see my picture coming everyday on TV and I accept with a lot of appreciation what they do for me, and I give thanks,” the soft-spoken Brown said with pride.

Meanwhile, Antini, who is now 16 years old, was beaming with pride as she collected her award.

“It means a lot to me to get this award for doing a very brave thing for my sister and myself, too,” she told the

Observer.

Antini recalled how she was alerted by her three-year-old brother that their Spanish Town Road home was ablaze. She acted quickly to get her younger siblings out of danger and, without any consideration for her safety, ran back into the building and manoeuvred her way through the thick smoke to her sister who had inhaled much of it.

“The house was black with smoke [and] when I went in I started coughing,” she recalled.

But before that she and others got water in pans and buckets from a pipe outside and tried to put out the fire. “…But that was not my job, so I put it (bucket) back down and I saw her (sister), and then I climbed over the bookshelf and on the basket of clothes and held on to her hand and went out the house [with her].”

She later realised that her sister’s arm was badly burnt and her nostrils were filled with black ash from the smoke, which required her to get immediate medical attention.

She told the Observer that at the time her thought was just to save her sister.

The Badge of Honour for Gallantry is awarded to individuals who have performed acts of gallantry or heroism or who have shown great courage in circumstances of extreme danger.

More than 200 Jamaicans were yesterday invested and presented with awards by Governor General Sir Patrick Allen at the ceremony.

TURN ….. TURN….

I just wanted to save my sister, says girl rewarded for gallantry