On Tuesday, a 15-year-old boy from the Maldives prevented a would-be assassin from stabbing the country’s president during a stop in the north of the archipelago. The boy, Mohammed Jaisham Ibrahim, dressed in full Boy Scout uniform, was waiting to shake the hand of the president, Maumoon Gayoom, as he greeted a crowd.
Suddenly an attacker with a knife wrapped in the Maldivian flag shouted “Allahu Akbar” (“God is great”) before lunging at the president. The Boy Scout saw what was happening, and reached out to stop the attacker when his hand was injured by the knife. In doing this, the boy saved the president’s life, but did manage to splatter some blood on the president’s shirt. The boy has promised to pay for the dry cleaning. (Only kidding.)
Newspapers throughout the country praised the boy’s courage and heroism. One paper had the headline: “Jaisham our national hero saves the president.”
That is going to be one bad-ass merit badge.
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