Student praised for daring rescue after boy electrocuted in floodwater

A widely shared video clip shows Atthachai Argudom, a 19-year-old student at Udon Thani Technical College, pulling the unconscious 12-year-old out of shin-deep water.

The drama unfolded next to a power pole outside Satri Rachinuthit School in the Northeast province on Friday. Witnesses suspected that electricity had leaked from the power pole.

Atthachai suffered electric shocks during the rescue that he said had left him feeling weak.

Both he and the schoolboy were taken to high ground inside the school compound before being rushed to hospital.

Udon Thani governor Siam Sirimongkol visited Atthachai in hospital on Saturday. He thanked the young man for his selfless compassion and gave him money to buy a new mobile phone.

Atthachai had dropped his phone into the floodwater in the scramble to rescue the boy.

The schoolboy’s mother, Kanokrat Loeichaiyaphum, also visited her son’s rescuer in hospital. She said her son would have drowned had Atthachai not pulled him from the floodwater.

“My thanks to this man who saved my son’s life. Thank you for your bravery and your good deed,” the 45-year-old said at Atthachai’s bedside.

His grandmother Supannee Saelim, 65, said that Atthachai has lived with her since he was a child following his parents’ divorce.

“I am proud of him and happy that he’s safe,” she told the media.

Meanwhile, Atthachai’s heroic action won praise from acting prime minister Gen Prawit Wongsuwan, government spokesperson Traisuree Taisaranakul said on Saturday.

Gen Prawit also instructed electricity authorities to take measures to prevent electrical leaks from power poles, she added.