Bindura teenage lifesaver set for prestigious Heroes Day honour

By Nkosana Dlamini

For saving two children who were moments away from being devoured by a raging fire at the expense of his own life, 17-year-old Innocent Chidhudhu is set to be honoured with a prestigious award by the government during the national Heroes Day commemorations in Harare 11 August.

This came out during cabinet deliberations which were presided over by President Emmerson Mnangagwa in Harare on Tuesday.

Chidhudhu turned hero when he braved a furious fire at a Bindura home to rescue two children yelled helplessly in a locked house.

This however came at a cost to his own safety.

Narrating the incident sometime later, Chidhudhu said when he saw the house on fire, he took an axe and broke the door after hearing a child crying inside.

Meanwhile, onlookers who witnessed the unfolding horror reached for their phones to capture the incident.

“After splitting the door open, I entered the house and brought a baby out wrapped in a piece of cloth,” he said.

But that was not all about Chidhudhu’s heroics as he was immediately told that another child was still trapped among burning sofas inside the house.

He was praised as a life saver by the minors’ mother, Josephine Garada.

Chidhudhu was hospitalised at Bindura Hospital for Asphyxiation after inhaling toxic smoke during his daring rescue operation.

“I was coughed out some blood,” he said of the incident.

His own mother Patience Chigwande later said Chidhudhu was in a “bad state” and could hardly talk following the incident.

His daring efforts have, however, not gone unnoticed by the government.

“The government of Zimbabwe has shortlisted three exceptional individuals for conferment with honours and awards at this year’s ceremony, which will coincide with the National Heroes Day commemorations,” according to a post-cabinet media briefing statement Tuesady.

“The recipients include Dr. Vladimir Shubin, former head of the Africa Section of the Soviet
Afro-Asian Solidarity Committee, who will receive the Royal Order of Munhumutapa; Chidhudhu Innocent, a teenager who bravely rescued two children from a burning house in Bindura, who will be awarded the Silver
Cross of Zimbabwe; and Dr. Madeline Nyamwanza, the first female African Medical Doctor in Zimbabwe, who will receive the Robert Gabriel Mugabe Commendation Award for Service in Human Capital Development.”

A silver Cross of Zimbabwe is defined elsewhere as a “decoration awarded to both military and civilian personnel for acts of conspicuous bravery in perilous conditions”.

In line with Government’s commitment to recognising the contributions of Veterans of the Liberation Struggle, read the statement, some “2,000 eligible Veterans will be conferred with Independence Medals through the respective Ministers of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution”.

“This initiative aims to honour their outstanding service and sacrifices during the Liberation Struggle.

“Additionally, eligible civil servants who have rendered distinguished service will be gazetted and issued with medals in phases, ensuring that their contributions are also duly recognised.”