I want to be a soldier – Teen who rescued mother and child from burning building

Henry Laryea Adjei, the 14-year-old boy, who ‘daringly’ rescued a mother and her child from a burning house in Taifa has expressed his desire to join the Ghana Armed Forces.

According to him, he is very passionate about being recruited into the forces and would be glad when given the opportunity.

He made the disclosure on Angel FM’s Anopa Bofo Morning Show on Wednesday, August 10, while narrating how he rescued two people from an inferno.

“I really want to be a soldier in the future. However, if I don’t get to be in the army, I want to join the Fire Service. I even told the fire service officers when they came [to put off the fire] that when I complete school, they should recruit me.”

Giving a blow-by-blow account of what happened, Henry Laryea Adjei said he heard a cry for help while overseeing his mother’s hairdressing salon.

According to him, a house adjacent to the salon was on fire and a mother and her child were trapped in there.

“The child was crying and the mother too was screaming and calling my name for help when I entered the house. I assured her to stop crying because I can save them. I felt the heat in the room and so I removed a blockade by the door to create space at the entrance.”

He explained that prior to entering the burning building, he submerged himself in a barrel of water at the salon which was adjacent to the house on fire. He also took his sleeping cloth which he dipped into the water and used as a protective shield.

“Once I was wet, I covered the little boy with the wet cloth and I pushed their wardrobe onto the bed and passed there out. The child was in their bedroom.”

Henry Laryea Adjei, who is a student of Taifa St. Dominic School later explained that though he was afraid, he was prepared to sacrifice himself for the two to live.

“When the fire service arrived the fire spread to our shop and I realised that the meter had caught fire. I quickly took their hose to douse the meter to stop it from burning further; an action which won me the applause of the Fire Service team”, he added.

When asked what action he would have taken if the fire officers agreed to his request Henry Laryea Adjei responded that “I would have followed the fire officers [to commence my training as a fire fighter].”

When asked how he learnt to save people from fires, he responded that “I’ve been watching [such rescue scenes in movies] on TV [however,] I have never practiced it before. I just did it.”

Meanwhile his mother, Linda Adjei, has said the actions of her son is “something which beats my imagination and understanding. What would have been my story if I lost him in the process?”