A Zealous Name of Bravery: Zeal Marathe

Sometimes, names do give a hint of the person. An example is Zeal Marathe. This 14-year-old recipient of the President's National Bravery Award has given new meaning to the word ‘bravery.’

This class X student, who was then in class IX, studying in Bright School, Vadodara, while out for a school picnic with her classmates, saved three lives when their bus met with an accident. She, who escaped major injuries, jumped out of window, maintained her cool and called nearby people for help.

The brave girl then managed to re-enter the bus from where she collected teacher’s diary and looked for contact numbers of parents whose kids were badly injured. She first made a call to parents of seriously injured and later called her father.

The intelligent girl made practical use of her disaster management class which is evident from what she said, “These five were losing consciousness. I had learnt that those under force trauma should be kept awake to avoid coma. I told locals to keep talking to them.” Doctors also praised the girl’s instant reaction saying that the situation could have been very disastrous had she not shown her presence of mind and skills.

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Proud father Jitendra Marathe said, “She called the parents of students who were seriously injured first. I was the last person she called almost after an hour of the accident.”