A 37-year-old Filipino driver was honoured in Saudi Arabia for risking his life and saving an elderly Saudi man from drowning.

Dawood S Balindong jumped to rescue the man who was trapped inside his car in the middle of floodwater in Jeddah. Balindong was among several onlookers standing there and watching the man call for help.

"Some people tried to deter me from swimming to reach the man in distress. They kept shouting that the Civil Defense would soon come to save him but I did not heed their calls," he said.

"I could not stand watching a man drowning without doing anything to save him. I did not think of death and I was not scared," he added.

He also stated that he had no idea that he would be honoured for his action, which was a spontaneous effort to save a life.

The Civil Defense apologized to the public that two of its staff who were present at the scene did not do anything to rescue the man and stated they would be disciplined for their lack of action, according to Saudi Gazette.

Source: Khaleej Times