The Pakistani Brothers Being Praised By K-Netz After Saving Multiple Lives With CPR During The Itaewon Halloween Emergency

On October 29, an estimated 100,000 people gathered in Itaewon to celebrate Halloween. During the celebrations, people ended up trapped in the middle of a crowd surge in a narrow alley. During this time, many people began to suffocate and suffer from cardiac arrest, with the current toll numbers at 156 killed and 172 injured as of November 2, 2022, 11am KST.

It caused devastation across Korea as the country went into a period of national mourning for those lives that were lost. Yet, amongst the sadness, stories of those helping as much as they could have also gained attention.

Recently, two brothers from Pakistan have been praised after it was revealed they had saved lives while in Itaewon. Muhammad Shavir came to South Korea last month to meet his brother Ahmed. Ahmed has been working in a large hospital for seven years after getting a nurse’s license in Pakistan.

The brothers who were born and raised in an Islamic culture visited Itaewon because they were curious about Korea’s Halloween culture. During their time in Itaewon, they heard screams from the huge crowds.

During the interview, the brothers spoke about their experiences and explained how, when they were on the scene, they tried to help as many people as possible.

I don’t remember, but there were maybe 15-20+ people. I checked the people’s pulse and their breathing response levels, and there was no response.

— Muhammad Shavid

In the end, it was revealed that four people regained consciousness because of the brothers’ efforts. Shavir explained that he was praying for them to get better as it was hurting his heart seeing them like that. Yet, despite helping massively, the brothers still shared regrets that they couldn’t have done more to help even more of those.

We were very tired, but for mankind, we helped, and we are happy. For sadness, we couldn’t save more lives.

— Abdul Shavid

Although his brother has been a nurse in Korea for seven years, Muhammad Shavir reveals that his dream is to continue studying in the country. He added that it was the first time he had seen such distress in a country he had seen nothing but kindness from the people.

It’s the first time I have seen it with my own eyes, people are very cooperative in a very peaceful country. My wish is that I can further study in Korea.

— Muhammad Shavid

When the video was shared, Korean netizens couldn’t stop praising the duo. Not only did they help save lives on the night, but they stayed in Itaewon to continue to help in any way possible, and many believed they deserved all the thanks in the world.

• “Thank you. Sincerely.”
• “Thank you so much.”
• “Wow… I’m so grateful. I read in an article that they would like to work as nurses in Korea. I hope the government helps them with permanent residency.”
• “Sigh. Thank you so, so much.”
• “I can only hope that they get rewarded somehow in some way. They’re amazing.”

Although the brothers might have had regrets about not being able to save more people, netizens across the world have shared their gratitude for doing as much, especially as CPR is known to be very energy-consuming and it was probably as mentally exhausting for the pair.