COIMBATORE: Archana Sivaramakrishnan’s heart is a mix of profound grief and immense pride. Pride, because her daughter Vyoma Priya was only nine years old and is a recipient of the Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar for bravery. And grief, because it’s Archana who had to accept the award from President Droupadi Murmu, as Vyoma gave her life trying to save a six-year-old boy who was electrocuted.
What began as a playful evening in a park ended in a heartbreaking example of courage and selflessness. Accepting the posthumous award on behalf of her late daughter, Archana recounted how her little girl, while playing in the park, rushed without hesitation to save another kid from danger.
It was her instinctive act of compassion that cost her her life. The boy also died in the incident. Twenty children from 18 States and Union Territories received the honour on Friday.
“It is a bittersweet moment to receive the award. I wish my daughter was here to receive the award herself,” said Archana.
The incident, on the evening of 23 May last year at Raman Vihar, a gated community belonging to the Army Welfare Housing Organisation (AWHO) near Saravanampatti, had left Archana with a long-lasting trauma.
“It was around 6.45 pm when the lights in our park tripped. Six-year-old Jiyansh Reddy was electrocuted on the newly installed slide, and Vyoma also received a shock when she rushed to help him. When I found them, almost nine minutes later, and tried to pick up my daughter, lying motionless, I too suffered a minor shock. We initially thought she suffered a head injury in a fall and rushed her to a hospital, where we came to know the cause of death,” Archana recalled.
A damaged underground electric cable had electrified the metal steps of the slide, while the wet ground intensified electrocution.
Incidentally, the park in her gated community was put to use again recently, which, however, was closed again with the intervention of child line authorities.