Watch: Rescue Officer Runs With Child Across Bridge Before It Submerges

The dramatic footage of a disaster rescue officer running with a child in his arms across a bridge that was going to be washed away by the floods in Kerala, India —​ which have reportedly killed 37 people so far —​ went viral on social media.

The fearless man in question was National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) rescue officer Kanhaiya Kumar, who was seen in the video, wearing a blue raincoat and carrying an umbrella, rushing across the Cheruthoni Bridge with the unidentified child in his arms, minutes before the route was completely submerged with the overflowing river water.

Two other men are also seen running after Kumar in the video, all in attempt to save the child’s life, who was reportedly suffering from high fever and needed urgent medical care.

“I have been in this profession for past six years and after this video went viral and people praised me, I feel my hard work paid off well,” Kumar said, regarding his overnight fame, local daily Hindustan Times reported.

“I realized that I can help the child by taking him to the nearest hospital and I exactly did that. I didn’t know that with just a small act of mine I would become famous. I would like to thank people who showed love and respect for this act,” he added.

Kumar told News 18 that he was helping the people living near the bridge evacuate the area — minutes before the fifth shutter of Cheruthoni dam in Idukki, Kerala, was opened causing the river to overflow — when he noticed “a man with a kid in his hands yelling from the other side of the river for help.”

After receiving a wireless message to take the child suffering from high fever to the nearest hospital, he wasted no time before rushing across the bridge.

Kerala’s minister for public works, G. Sudhakaran, tweeted, congratulating Kumar for his extraordinary act of valor. “I congratulate the man who saved the kid, the cameraman Kannan Prasannan and News18 who let the world know about the humanitarian act,” he wrote.

As many as 14 teams of NDRF consisting of 404 rescuers and 31 boats were deployed in various parts of Kerala, which have been affected by floods for the past four days, to assist the state administration in the relief and rescue operation and to provide medical support to the victims.

Amid continuous heavy rains, several thousand people have been rendered homeless, forced them to take shelter in relief camps after rainwater flooded their houses.