• Burmese
Friday, July 18, 2025
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTER
The Irrawaddy
29 °c
Yangon
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Junta Watch
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Books
  • Donation
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Junta Watch
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Books
  • Donation
No Result
View All Result
The Irrawaddy
No Result
View All Result
Home Features

Nargis Hero Wins Florence Nightingale Medal

Thu Zar by Thu Zar
May 21, 2015
in Uncategorized
Reading Time: 3 mins read
0 0
A A
Nargis Hero Wins Florence Nightingale Medal

Sa Naing Naing Tun. (Photo: Tin Htet Paing / The Irrawaddy)

4.2k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

RANGOON — Though the sky was gloomy, life on Haigyi Island that morning was as calm and still as it was on any other day. Some villagers were bunkering down after a storm warning announced by the weather bureau, but most seemed undaunted, carrying on their daily lives as normal.

As it approached noon, the winds picked up suddenly and violently, and soon a fierce gale was blowing from the sea. The clouds thickened and the sky darkened to blackness, while the rains became a deluge and the tide began to swell and overrun the shore.

No one who lived through it will ever forget the fateful day in May 2008, when Haigyi Island was all but leveled by Cyclone Nargis. Sitting at the southwestern tip of Irrawaddy Division, Haigyi was the closest landmass to the eye of a storm which eventually claimed the lives of up to 140,000 people.

RelatedPosts

Renowned Myanmar language teacher John Okell is still inspiring students, five decades on.

Love of the Lingo

August 5, 2020
10.2k
--

‘Secret Garden’ in Wa Special Region Leaves Much to the Imagination

February 27, 2020
8.5k
U San Hla, who lost his leg in a mine blast near Namtwe Village. / Htet Wai / The Irrawaddy

Treading Lightly in Shan State: The Civilian Casualties of Myanmar’s Landmines

December 16, 2019
12.9k

Sa Naing Naing Tun, then serving as a senior nurse at island’s 16-bed hospital, thought at the time that it was the last day of his life.

“We all thought we were about to die, he said. “We didn’t think we could escape.”

There were 70 people in the ward when the cyclone hit, two mothers who had just given birth, along with 20 other patients, their families and hospital staff. As they bunkered down, the building was struck by uprooted trees and corrugated iron sheets that had blown off the roofs of nearby houses.

“The water level reached up to our breast,” he recalled. “It flooded in very quickly. We let people stand on the beds, but there were too many of us. I thought we would be inundated and so we asked the vulnerable patients to climb up to the beams on the roof.”

The storm continued to thrash the island until 6pm, when the tide began to recede. As the situation in the ward calmed, Sa Naing Naing Tun’s mind went the two women that gave birth that morning.

“I asked them about their babies and the mothers told me they had almost been suffocated by the water. I was quite worried. I took the babies and found that they had stopped breathing—I could hear the faint heartbeat of one while another one’s heart had stopped. I gave as treatment as much as I could to the baby who had more chances of survival. I tried to warm his cold body up and after some time, he returned to normal…then I treated the second baby as much as I could. But the baby did not respond at all and did not breathe. So, I gave up, and when I was about to turn away from him, he hooked his fingers around mine.”

The ordeal was by no means over. While the storm hit, another woman had gone into labor on the other side of Hatgyi Island. With the expectant mother and her husband unable to reach the hospital, it fell to the nurse to brave the chaos of the storm’s aftermath, climbing through ruined homes and debris to reach the woman and assist in the delivery.

“I didn’t even have the gloves to deliver the child,” he said. “It was an emergency and it took almost an hour to get to the patient’s house. Her house was almost collapsing…when I asked them if they had anything to cut the placenta, they gave me a rusty knife. Then I had to tear off my longyi to tie the umbilical cord.”

The next morning, he took necessary medicines from hospital and came to check the mother and the baby. Both of them were healthy.

Last week, Sa Naing Naing Tun received long overdue recognition for his courageous actions in during the Nargis disaster. With the encouragement of the Myanmar Nurse and Midwife Association, earlier this year he applied for the Florence Nightingale Medal, the highest honor for nurses presented by the International Committee of the Red Cross. On May 12, International Nurses Day, he was announced as a recipient of the award, along with 35 other nurses from 18 countries.

First awarded in 1912, Sa Naing Naing Tun is only the fourth Burmese national to have received a Florence Nightingale Medal. Army nurse Col Khin Ohn Mya was awarded the medal in 1963 for her devotion to World War II refugees, An Yaw Nan was honored in 1993 for her devotion to injured soldiers and civilians in Shan State, and Thein Yi was recognized in 2001 for saving an 8-year-old child from a burning home in Sagaing Division.

Your Thoughts …
Tags: A_FactivaFeatures
Thu Zar

Thu Zar

Similar Picks:

From Aung San’s Driver to Centenarian
Stories That Shaped Us

From Aung San’s Driver to Centenarian, a Long and Winding Road

by Kyaw Zwa Moe
April 29, 2015
12.7k

As the man who drove Gen. Aung San to Panglong, 100-year-old U Khan is proud of the small part he...

Read moreDetails
The Safe Sex Talk
Specials

The Safe Sex Talk, Burmese Style

by Samantha Michaels
January 20, 2014
27.7k

In a Buddhist-majority country where talking about intimacy is taboo, efforts are under way to develop a better system for...

Read moreDetails
Inspiring Women of Burma  
Burma

Inspiring Women of Burma  

by The Irrawaddy
March 18, 2016
33.6k

The contributions of some of Burma’s leading female figures are highlighted in the final part of a series that ran...

Read moreDetails
The Life of Burmese Male Sex Workers in Chiang Mai
Features

The Life of Burmese Male Sex Workers in Chiang Mai

by Kyaw Kha
November 18, 2014
46.7k

Dozens of young men from poor villages in Shan State work as sex workers in gay show bars in northern...

Read moreDetails
Sex Sells in Burma’s Sin City
Features

Sex Sells in Burma’s Sin City

by Lawi Weng
September 2, 2014
25.9k

Nowhere in culturally conservative Burma is it easier to find sex than in Mong La, a Sino-Burmese border town with...

Read moreDetails
Australian-Karen Actress: ‘I Hope Karen People Will Have the Right to Self-Determination’
Asia

Australian-Karen Actress: ‘I Hope Karen People Will Have the Right to Self-Determination’

by Saw Yan Naing
January 18, 2016
13.7k

Tasneem Roc, an Australian actress who also has ethnic Karen roots, speaks with The Irrawaddy about her career and her...

Read moreDetails
Load More
Next Post
China Denying Passports to Restrict Critics

China Denying Passports to Restrict Critics, Minorities

Crop-Loss Indian Farmers Sell Their Children to Survive: Authorities

Crop-Loss Indian Farmers Sell Their Children to Survive: Authorities

No Result
View All Result

Recommended

What the ‘Snake Charmer’ Analogy Gets Wrong About Myanmar

What the ‘Snake Charmer’ Analogy Gets Wrong About Myanmar

3 days ago
1.4k
Myanmar Junta’s Recapture of Nawnghkio Shows Strategic Missteps by TNLA

Myanmar Junta’s Recapture of Nawnghkio Shows Strategic Missteps by TNLA

1 day ago
1.2k

Most Read

  • Myanmar Junta’s Power Transfer Looms, but Real Control to Remain With Regime Boss

    Myanmar Junta’s Power Transfer Looms, but Real Control to Remain With Regime Boss

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Myanmar Junta’s Recapture of Nawnghkio Shows Strategic Missteps by TNLA

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Karen Fighters Push for Myanmar Junta Outpost on Thai Border

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Belarus Universities Teach Myanmar Junta How to Kill: JFM

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Indian Army Accused of Deadly Strike on Separatists in Myanmar

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0

Newsletter

Get The Irrawaddy’s latest news, analyses and opinion pieces on Myanmar in your inbox.

Subscribe here for daily updates.

Contents

  • News
  • Politics
  • War Against the Junta
  • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
  • Conflicts In Numbers
  • Junta Crony
  • Ethnic Issues
  • Asia
  • World
  • Business
  • Economy
  • Election 2020
  • Elections in History
  • Cartoons
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Commentary
  • Guest Column
  • Analysis
  • Letters
  • In Person
  • Interview
  • Profile
  • Dateline
  • Specials
  • Myanmar Diary
  • Women & Gender
  • Places in History
  • On This Day
  • From the Archive
  • Myanmar & COVID-19
  • Intelligence
  • Myanmar-China Watch
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Food
  • Fashion & Design
  • Videos
  • Photos
  • Photo Essay
  • Donation

About The Irrawaddy

Founded in 1993 by a group of Myanmar journalists living in exile in Thailand, The Irrawaddy is a leading source of reliable news, information, and analysis on Burma/Myanmar and the Southeast Asian region. From its inception, The Irrawaddy has been an independent news media group, unaffiliated with any political party, organization or government. We believe that media must be free and independent and we strive to preserve press freedom.

  • Copyright
  • Code of Ethics
  • Privacy Policy
  • Team
  • About Us
  • Careers
  • Contact
  • Burmese

© 2023 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Business
    • Economy
    • Business Roundup
  • Books
  • Donation

© 2023 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.