When a kayaker noticed a woman's head bobbing in and out of Singapore's Changi coastline, she found it odd that somebody would swim that way. At first, she had thought the woman was playing around, but when she saw her head submerge a few times, she knew something wasn't right.
The kayaker paddled furiously towards the other woman. The woman, Norhaslinda Shanbudin, was shouting for help. The kayaker urged the hysterical swimmer to hold on to the kayak.
Upon reaching shore, Norhaslinda said that her boyfriend, Rohaizat Awang, was still in the water. The kayaker paddled back to the murky, coffee-colored waters but failed to find Rohaizat, who had gone underwater to keep his fiancee from drowning. (His lifeless body was to be found the next day).
Still in a state of shock, Norhaslinda failed to ask the name of her unlikely savior who had disappeared after calling for professional help. But after an exhaustive three-day search, Singapore police were able to identify the mystery kayaker - Cherry Pinpin, a 33-year old woman from the Philippines. Cherry, they discovered, walked with an artificial leg.
A freelance art director and teacher, Cherrie had lost her right leg to bone cancer at age 11, but the seeming tragedy catalyzed her will to succeed. "A leg is nothing to lose," she would say. And since she felt that "there were a lot of things in life that I hadn't done yet," she fitted herself with and artificial leg and commenced an active, fun-filled and enthusiastic life.
True to her ideals, she gained a scholarship to the Philippine High School for the Arts and graduated from the University of the Philippines. She joined the ASEAN Games and the Southeast Asian Games (to name the few), winning repeatedly in the rifle shooting championships. She also climbed mountains, explored lakes and seas, and in Singapore, indulged in scuba-diving and kayaking.
So much activity for someone with an artificial leg!
Back in her native country, news of Cherry's heroic act made the headlines. Upon arriving in Manila for a short vacation, she received various awards from the government, and was the subject of different news features.
"Many heroes have lost their lives in saving others," Cherry says, "but there are also ordinary people who consider life precious, wherever they are."