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“Well Done! You have done great!”
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“Well Done! You have done great!”
Last September on the 4th around 4AM, a young man who was angry with her girlfriend breaking up with him set her residence on fire. The house which Mr. ChiBum Ahn resided was located in SuGyo-Dong of Mapo-Gu in Seoul. It was a 5 floored with 21 single room (strudio) living space.
When the fire started, Mr. Ahn was the first person out and after calling the emergency services, he went back into the burning building and rang each doorbell and knocked on the door to tell the residents to “Get out! Get out!” in a loud voice on every floor. Thanks to his sacrifice, everyone in the 21 room building escaped. Mr. Ahn was the only casualty in this fire.
When the firefighters arrived, they found Mr. Ahn unconscious in the 5th floor from gas inhalation. He was already brain dead when they found him. I think he was trying to escape from the fire and from the fierce smoke that had caused him to lose conscious. 11 days after the arson he passed away in the early morning. It was on the 20th of September.
The TV broadcasting company showed the CCTV footage of Mr. Ahn’s actions. It was a clip of him getting out of the burning building, only to re-enter it moments later. His body was scorched with the fire, and his right hand was burned and blistered badly. I think he was trying to press on the doorbells that were burning, and also from banging on the doors that were burning hotly.
Mr. ChiBum Ahn originally studied accounting, but 2 years ago with his good voice he wanted to become a broadcasting announcer and went to a Vocational Academy and was living nearby the academy. It was when this incident occurred while he was preparing for a vocational testing. He had only rented this place about 2 months ago. One of his friends said, “Whenever someone has a difficulty, he would get on a taxi even during late night to help. He would listen and hear out friends in a deep manner.”
After graduation from college, he was appointed to be a special person helper instead of the military service. After returning from the service, he headed back to the school to help those special needs people in volunteer work. While searching for jobs, he would still help special needs people nonetheless. One of the students from YeonSae University that he had helped along with his mother came during the funeral. “He would be the person to help write during tests as my son was suffering from muscle disease.” The school that he was volunteering at, Sang-Am High School had a moment of silence to remember him. Mr. Ahn was someone who had gladly helped and would sweat and toil for other’s well-being, living a fulfilled life.
His mother, Mrs. HyeKyung Jang would scold him often for helping too much, “You need to take care of your body first!” Mr. Ahn would always reply with “Mother you cannot live like that!” and would rebuke her instead. His grandmother during funeral said, “I was first very upset that he jumped back into the fire without thinking about family. But now I come to think of it, well had done. You have done very well!” and had shed tears.
On the 21st of September during the funeral proceedings, his father, KwangMyung Ahn said that all he wanted most value was of his children’s welfare and honesty. “I wanted to hear my son’s deep voice and was at first resentful of my son’s death. But now I think about it, well done!” Every neighbor from the one-room building all came to condolence and all said “thanks to your son we all are alive. Thank you!” and had bowed their heads. Many of the condolence friends and family would give words of encouragement and would say “it will all be fine” and comfort them. However when there were no visitors, the father would turn around and shed tears.
The death of 28 year old Mr. Ahn left a profound impact on many people. It taught many what the true value of life is? What is the true meaning of fulfilled life was like? With his selfless sacrifice, many people including his neighbors to the prime minister, numerous government officials, to even those unrelated to the accident came to condole the family. One person said, “I do not know who Mr. ChiBum Ahn is, but a righteous man has died so I came to condole.”
If I had lived in Korea still, I would’ve personally visited his resting place to condole the family. The reason is as Jesus said, “To die for your friend’s life, it is far greater love than anything.” I wanted to pay my respect to this young man, who had passed away but saved 20 other lives. He is still with those 20 survivor’s heart, and then it would be the starting point where those people can live meaningful lives. I also would remember for the rest of my life the name of “Chi Bum Ahn” who had given his life to rescue those people.
(November 6th, 2016)
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The Strange Acorn Tree 
“Well Done! You have done great!”