Following a string of job offers, gifts and praises being heaped on him for his selfless, heroic act of saving a drowning boy, Tremayne Brown is to be given a national award.

Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport Olivia 'Babsy' Grange told The Gleaner yesterday that Prime Minister Andrew Holness was moved by the actions of Brown, who risked his own life to save 12-year-old Renaldo Reynolds, a student of Jones Town Primary.

Grange said the prime minister suggested that Brown be given a national award for his brave feat.

It is anticipated that Brown could be awarded the Badge of Honour for Gallantry in October, this year, when 171 other Jamaicans will be conferred with national honours.

Renaldo was on his way home from school when he and friends decided to play in the gully's rushing waters. He, however, got into difficulties and was swept away by the currents from Seventh Street on Collie Smith Drive.

Residents attempted to save the boy but failed, However, Brown ran from the Boys' Town Vocational Training Centre, where he works part-time as a labourer, and jumped into the water clutching the boy.

The currents washed the two away. They were found minutes later by residents - Brown with one hand clinging to an overhanging limb and the other clutching the child who broke out in prayer as his saviour grew tired from his ordeal and the many cuts and bruises he sustained as he tried to grab on to the sides of the gully.

edmond.campbell@gleanerjm.com