Kochi: Even the smallest of a lizard could send shivers down Leon’s spine, his mother, Leena, would often say. But when his younger brother, Neon, a class two student, was sinking into a canal before his eyes, fear was the last thing on his mind.

Leon, a class 9 student who is affectionately called Achu, still doesn’t know where he found the strength to lift his drowning brother from the water and carry him to safety. As their mother fervently thanks Vallarpadam Amma (Mother of Christ) for the miraculous escape, the haunting uncertainty of those moments-- between life and death --still lingers on the faces of her sons.

The incident unfolded on February 16. Leon was riding his bicycle from their residence in Moolampilly to their maternal house, with Neon seated on the front bar. Their route took them along the narrow road beneath the Container Road at Kothad.

As they approached a small culvert over a canal, an autorickshaw came from the opposite direction. Leon carefully steered his bicycle to the edge of the bridge, waiting for the vehicle to pass.

But in that split second, disaster struck. As the autorickshaw rolled by, Leon lost control, and the bicycle tilted dangerously to one side. The next moment, both brothers, along with the cycle, plunged into the canal, which was swollen with water due to high tide.

The boys bobbed up and down, gasping for air. Leon eventually managed to keep his head above the water by bracing his foot against the bicycle’s wheel. It was then that he spotted his little brother desperately struggling, sinking and resurfacing. Without a moment’s hesitation, Leon reached for him, hoisted him onto his shoulders, and waded through the canal bed toward the shore.

Once Neon was safely on land, Leon, though exhausted, turned back into the water to retrieve the bicycle. By the time he pulled it ashore, fatigue had overtaken him.

A passerby, noticing the boys in distress, immediately informed their father, Antony. Luckily, the duo escaped with only minor injuries, except that Neon needed four stitches on his lips.

For days, the brothers kept the incident a secret, sharing it with neither the villagers nor their classmates at HSS of Jesus, Kothad. It wasn’t until they finally confided in their class teacher that the story of Leon’s bravery came to light.