Sikh man in New Zealand lauded worldwide for selfless act

Melbourne, May 17 A day after a Sikh man from India broke religious protocol by removing his turban to help a profusely bleeding child in New Zealand, people are praising him on the social networking sites for his humanitarian gesture, a media report said today. The story of 22-year-old Harman Singh has been shared tens of thousands of times on social media as he woke up yesterday to hundreds of messages from around the world praising his humanitarian effort.
A picture of him setting aside religious protocol by removing his turban to cradle a boy hit by a car has turned him into an instant hero, New Zealand Herald reported. Singh has since received hundreds of Facebook herograms from as far afield as the US, Europe and India, the report said. He was overwhelmed at the number of messages of support from around the globe. “Total strangers are asking to be friends on Facebook and thousands of people have said ‘Well done’. I was only doing what I had to and trying to be a decent member of the community,” he said. Singh said he had changed his shift as a bakery delivery driver the day before. Singh said he was in bed when he heard tyres screeching and rushed outside. He saw a little boy lying in the road and there was a lot of blood coming from the back of his head. A lady was holding him and he wasn’t moving. The boy was going to school with his sister when the accident happened outside his house in South Auckland on Friday morning. Singh, who is from India, is in Auckland studying a business course. His act is considered a hugely significant because it breaks strict religious protocol. The boy was thought to have suffered life-threatening head injuries but was last night recovering after surgery.