Man Lowers Himself into 60-Foot Well to Rescue a Cow

There are different ways people save animals’ lives.  Some people do so by not eating meat.  Others take a more personal approach.  One young man from Lucknow, India, went about as far as anyone can in order to save the life of a cow… or as deep, in this case.

Sixty feet deep, to be exact… and into a well, no less.  If that isn’t scary, I don’t know what is.  But it’s also a refreshingly sensitive gesture, and not the sort of thing that tends to color most “newsworthy” stories today.

The name of the man is Mohammed Zaki.  He is 20 years old, Muslim, a professional painter, and apparently an avid supporter of all things living.  Accounts of his heroic incident, note that he seemed to show no hesitation or sense of fear when lowering himself down into the darkness in order to help the fate of a large, confused, and possibly angry beast.  (See the whole video below).

Zaki was walking home from a masjid (a cooler word for “mosque”) after his afternoon prayers, only to find a crowd of people surrounding an open well.  When he saw the cow, he immediately sprung into action, and starting doing what needed to be done.  He lowered himself down with the crane, and harnessed the cow under the stomach.  He then rode upward on top of it until they were both safe.  He elected to sit on top of the cow as it was carried upward to avoid having it fall on him in the event of a mechanical malfunction.

Unfortunately, heroism is rarely ever completely without its pitfalls.  Zaki sustained an injury after being hit in the leg by the panicking cow when attempting to wrap the harness around it.  Thankfully the impact only resulted in swelling and he was able to make it out of the well alive.  The viral video of the incident is an exciting account of what happened.  There are moments of anxiety and doubt for Zaki throughout, but when he comes into sight, and he and the cow appear unharmed, the viewer is filled with a feeling of genuine accomplishment.  We get to rest easy knowing that someone did something selfless for not only a living creature, but one that is generally considered inferior.

For Zaki, it didn’t matter.  It was just another life that needed saving.