Our journey across the Abonnema Bakana waterway had turned a sour ride. Perhaps, a death picnic. 

It rained heavily that day. The debris caused a terrifying bump on the road. It was like an impasse.

Away from the wharf, the vessel took the last straw. 

A gasp rippled through the crowd. The distance from land was an impossible feat even for the toughest swimmers. There was no glimmer of hope for those of us who could not swim. 

We met the water with the stubbornness of a wolf unwilling to yield to the grip of a reaper. I was among the few who fought to stay afloat in vain. The river had a different agenda.

That was when I felt his firm hold like another chance at life. He didn't stop. He jumped right back.

He braved the tides, but they won in the end.

" He was exhausted," someone said. " He could have stopped." The man's voice tinged with a subtle blame.

However faint, I caught it , along with the rest of us. The silent rebuke was a hum of distaste and burning annoyance.

He didn't stop. We all survived. All, except him. Out of the twenty-five passengers, he was the only casualty.

" We don't even know his name," I mumbled to myself. A lady nearby heard me. 

" Joseph Blackson..." She  responded, eyes gleaming with tears.

" You know him?" A man asked.

" He is my brother." She managed to say amidst sobs she fought to restrain.

I learnt he had lost one of his children two years before. A man such as him could have fought to save himself alone. He chose the opposite.

A heavy burden weighed down on my chest. I imagined his wife. She must be waiting for his return. What about his child? How would they receive the news of his departure?

The truth remains, a man gave himself for me. For thirteen people he didn't know from Adam. Strangers he couldn't watch sink beneath the tempest. 

We were not his friends, but he didn't care. His humanity outshone our fight for survival. He gave us a second chance, at the cost of his.

We turned our back to his deathbed, but one thing was certain, the thirteen of us will live the rest of our lives in gratitude to Joe Blackson.

Imagining the last moment of the hero— Joseph Blackson.