Nguyen Tang Binh, Vice Chairman of the People’s Committee, presents the President’s Order of Bravery to Tran Thanh Ron.

On December 16, 2017, a fishing boat from the central province of Binh Dinh was sunk by strong waves at a location about 280 nautical miles from shore, in the vicinity of Vietnam’s Hoang Sa (Paracel) archipelago. The four fishermen on the boat had just enough time to send a distress signal and then climb into a small coracle. Receiving the signal, fisherman Tran Thanh Ron and three others steered their boat to the location of the distress signal. Ron, jumped into the sea to help the four fishermen.

“When I heard people calling for help, I plunged into the sea and did my best to save the people in distress. After getting them into the boat, I swam back to retrieve their belongings. I was submerged by a strong wave and fainted from exhaustion,” Ron recalled.

Tran Duc, one of the four fishermen saved by Ron, said: “Ron forgot himself to save others. He jumped into the water to save us with only one rope which was very dangerous for him”.

Tran Thanh Ron.

Last November, the Quang Ngai provincial People’s Committee held a ceremony to present the President’s Order of Bravery to Tran Thanh Ron for his heroic action. Nguyen Tang Binh, Vice Chairman of the People’s Committee, said: “Tran Thanh Ron is a model of bravery. Ron’s actions to save people should be honored.”