Filipino intern trainee became a hero in Fukuoka

Filipino intern trainee jumps into the sea to save young boy

By YUSUKE OGAWA/ Staff Writer
The Asahi Shimbun (Japan)
June 17, 2024

FUKUOKA--A Filipino man who is working in Japan under a training program is being hailed as a hero for jumping into the sea and saving a boy at Hakozaki Wharf here on June 16. 

The Fukuoka Coast Guard Office reported that it had received a phone call from the Fukuoka Fire Prevention Bureau at around 5:20 p.m. saying a 6-year-old boy had fallen into the water. 

The boy, who wasn't wearing a life jacket, fell two meters into the sea at the wharf, located in the northern part of Kyushu island. 

But the 26-year-old Filipino, who lives in Fukuoka's Higashi Ward and happened to be fishing nearby at the time, jumped into the water to rescue the boy.

Neither was injured, according to the Fukuoka Coast Guard Office.

The Coast Guard office said the boy lived in Fukuoka and he and his parents, an older brother and a younger sister went to the wharf to fish. 

The boy slipped and fell into the sea at around 5:10 p.m. His family was not nearby and didn’t notice that he had fallen into the water.

But the Filipino man jumped into the sea immediately and secured the boy’s body.

The dock was two meters above the sea surface, so other people pulled the boy up using ropes attached to a bucket and a fishing net, a Fukuoka Coast Guard official said.

The boy was suspected to have been suffering from hypothermia and he was sent to a hospital, but his condition was not considered life-threatening. 

The Filipino man, who is enrolled in the government's foreign technical intern training program, gave his name to Coast Guard investigators.

But when the boy’s parents asked him for his contact information because they wanted to do something to thank him, he said, "What I did is not worth giving my name” and went home, according to the Fukuoka Coast Guard official.

“If the man didn’t help the boy immediately, the situation could have become more serious because the boy wasn’t wearing a life jacket,” the Coast Guard official said. 

The dock where the accident occurred is a popular local fishing spot near Hakozaki Port, located about 3.5 kilometers from JR Hakata Station.