Aida Abdurakhmanova, a pilgrim from Dagestan (a republic in the far south of the European part of Russia), gave first aid to a one-year-old child from Africa who started choking due to the heat during the Hajj. Abdurakhmanova was later presented with a trip to Umrah as a gift, the Hajj company "Marwa Tour" said.
“The Dagestan pilgrim of the Marva company performed a heroic act on the holy lands. Aida Abdurakhmanova, an emergency doctor [...], saved a one-year-old child from Africa. The child was suffocating, and the mother and passing pilgrims could not help,” the message said.
Later, the general director of the company, Bulat Kurbanov, met with the woman.
“As a token of gratitude for your action, as a sign of what we appreciate, we want to give you [a ticket] to Umrah,” Kurbanov said.
“We saw a woman holding a child in her arms. The child was all blue and choking. I, as a doctor, did not stand aside,” said Abdurakhmanova. “When I see situations like this, I can’t pass by.”
This year, the Hajj took place from June 14 to 19. AFP, citing diplomatic sources in unnamed Arab countries, reported that more than 1,000 pilgrims from Islamic countries died during the Hajj due to the heat. At least 658 of the total number of deaths were Egyptian citizens. The Spiritual Administration of Muslims of Russia told local media that a pilgrim from Dagestan died of a heart disease during the Hajj. The temperature in Mecca during those days reached almost 52 degrees Celsius.