Really a great hero

One day, i was sitting in front of television, reading reader's digest..
my uncle bought it..
At first, i was just simply go through the book..careless..
and my eyes turn to television once for awhile..
When i turned to page 18, i stopped..
there is a pic, indian on it..and there is was some words beside the picture,
" Krishnamoorthy Sandaran risked his life to save 18 other people from the sea "
and then, i started to read.. and now, i would like to share this article with you guys..
i dun mind that this article is long to type , as it really should be share with everybody..

The South China Sea looked calm and inviting when 19-year-old M.Krishnamoorthy Sandaran and his group of 23 arrived at 7am at the Mersing Jetty in Rompin, Pahang last October, the 13th.
Tired from the six-hour drive from Klang, the young apprentice electrician woke his boss Pang Kee Chuan, and the rest of Pang's family. They'd booked the earliest ferry to Tioman Island where they would be spending the Aidil Fitri holidays. The rest of the group trickled in slowly in their own cars.
Earlier, his mum had asked him not to go because he was still working on a residential wiring project. But Pang had insisted, sending a team to replace Krishnamoorthy on the job so he could join the trip. Their relationship went a long way back; Krishnamoorthy had joined Pang as an apprentice when he dropped out of school at the age of 11.
At 10.30 am, the group, comprising mostly Pang's family and relatives, excitedly scrambled aboard the Seagull Express 2. Laden with 106 holiday-goers, the wooden vessel set off for the four-hour trip to Tioman.
Krishnamoorthy immediately noticed something was wrong - their ferry was moving extremely slow. Another ferry that launched five minutes later had already overtaken them.
Concerned, Pang asked the captain if anything was wrong and was curtly told it was safer to go slow in choppy seas.
Half an hour later, smoke began billowing out from the back of the ferry, " THE engine must have broken down," Krishnamoorthy commented. The ferry jerked along the next 20 minutes.
Suddenly people began to scream "Fire! Fire!" from the airconditioned lower deck. Panicked passengers below stampeded up through the narrow stairway. Crewmembers and passengers frantically broke windows to release the trapped smoke.
Krishnamoorthy instinctively knew that they'd to abandon ship. Fighting the heaving crowd, he pushed his way down into the smoky lower deck to get life jackets.
An explosion came from the bow, shaking the ferry and causing more screams. Grabbing four life jackets, he rushed upstairs. Another explosion erupted as he threw the life jackets at Pang's brother-in-law's children. The fire spread fast, spurred by the sea breeze.
"My child is down there!" Krishnamoorthy thought he heard his boss's wife scream. He again rushed into the smoke filled lower deck. His lungs exploding, he searched madly for the child.
Finding no-one, he crawled up again, with fire eating at his shirt and jeans. A third explosion erupted and someone that the ferry was sinking. Everyone, including Krishnamoorthy, jumped into the sea, as the fire gutted the ferry.
Surfacing, Krishnamoorthy grabbed a nearby float and threw it at a group of adults and children trying to stay afloat with just one life jacket.
Three ferries approached and immediately threw some inflatable rafts into the sea. Krishnamoorthy climbed aboard one of them, but saw many people still struggling in the water.
He dove back into the sea and grabbed hold as many people as he could, leading them to the rafts or ferries. His back and legs stung from the burns, yet he felt no pain as he dove again and again into the water, saving a total of 18 people, seven of them children.
Several news reports later stated that nine people died in that ferry incident, including Pang's uncle and aunt. "More could have died if Krishnamoorthy had not plucked them out from the open sea," says Pang.
Subsequent invertigations by the Malaysian authorities revealed that the ferry company was operating without a valid license.
Although the accident kept him awake for entire week, Krishnamoorthy is nonchalant about his heroism. "I couldn'y just save myself and let all those people drown. They could have been my family members," he says.

[extracted from reader's digest , pg 18]

At last, i typed it out, finished...isn't he is a great hero?