Penampang OCPD is knight in shining armour for elderly flood victims

Supt Sammy carrying the elderly woman on his back to safer grounds.

KOTA KINABALU: A trapped elderly couple in the flood in Penampang near here could not ask for a better person to save them when the district police chief himself came to their rescue on Monday (July 1).

Supt Sammy Newton and his men had intended to check out the situation at Kampung Kolopis, one of the worst hit by the flood, when they saw that a four-wheel vehicle had fallen into a hole near the Kasigui roundabout with its back pointing towards the sky at about 6.30am.

They saw an elderly woman at the back of the truck while an elderly man was still inside the vehicle. They are both believed to be in their late 60s.

“We immediately waded through the waist-high water to free the driver and walk him to safer grounds first before we moved on to the woman,” he said when contacted.

“Because the woman could not properly stand or walk, I decided to carry her on my back,” he added.

Supt Sammy said they then sent them to the temporary flood shelter at the nearby Penampang Cultural Centre where there was a medical crew on standby.

He said the first thing that came to his mind was ensuring the couple was safe.

“To me, ranks or positions do not matter because this is people’s lives at risk. In any case, I am used to doing hard work and carrying heavy stuff in my village so this is not a problem,” Supt Sammy added.

After that, he said, he and his men then had to leave immediately to respond to a call over a woman who was swept away by flood waters.