Aitzaz Hasan
TL;DR: The 15-year-old student who tackled a suicide bomber to save his school.
A Normal Monday
On January 6, 2014, in the Hangu district of Pakistan, 15-year-old Aitzaz Hasan was running late for school. He was standing outside the gate with two friends when a man approached. The man looked suspicious and was wearing a heavy vest under his clothes. Aitzaz noticed the detonator.
The Confrontation
The man was a suicide bomber intending to walk into the school's morning assembly, where 2,000 students were gathered. While his friends panicked and ran inside to warn the teachers, Aitzaz did the opposite. He ran toward the bomber. He tackled the man, wrapping his arms around him to prevent him from entering the gate.
A National Hero
In the struggle, the bomber detonated his vest. Aitzaz was killed instantly, but his sacrifice forced the explosion to happen away from the school building. Not a single other student was harmed. Aitzaz's father later said, 'My son made his mother cry but saved hundreds of mothers from crying for their children.' He is celebrated as a martyr who gave his future to save others.
The World Without Him
If Aitzaz had run inside with his friends, the bomber would have walked into the morning assembly. With 2,000 students packed into a confined space, the explosion would have been a massacre of horrific proportions. Aitzaz Hasan traded his one life for the futures of hundreds of his peers, preventing a tragedy that would have devastated his entire community.
