'It's funny how people misinterpreted me being the father': Cyclist who saved toddler from traffic in viral video

A cyclist saved a toddler from certain death last Friday (May 15) when the child merrily rode his kickscooter into the middle of a busy three-lane road in Yishun. His feat was even captured in a nerve-racking dashcam video. 

Alas, it wasn’t all praises for the two-wheeled rescuer. 

When the footage got shared widely on Facebook, unenlightened netizens immediately assumed that the cyclist was an irresponsible father who barely managed to rescue his son from getting run down. 

Understandably, the clip posted on the Singapore Roads safety/Roads safety.SG Facebook page doesn’t show the full context of the incident. In the video, the cyclist is seen stopping right next to the toddler in the second lane, pulling the child to a stop as a truck whizzed past them. 

The man then swiftly picked up the child onto his shoulders and carted the boy and his kickscooter safely to the side of the road. 

[embed]https://www.facebook.com/roadsafetysgroadsafety/videos/1011302205932370[/embed]

It was regrettable then that the man was attacked in the comments section after it was assumed that he was an irresponsible parent. 

Fortunately, saner heads prevailed. The cyclist’s wife spoke out to correct the misconception. 

The cyclist — now identified a 35-year-old man who goes by the name Zwan Giant — has since provided his side of the story to Business Insider. According to him, he had been riding on the leftmost lane along Yishun Avenue 8 last Friday afternoon when he witnessed a small boy riding from a park connector into the middle of the road. 

“That’s all I wanted to do – save him before anything. But it’s funny how people misinterpreted me being the father,” he told Business Insider, questioning why any sane father would let his child ride dangerously alongside him on the road. 

On his Facebook page, he had angrier words for those who presumed him to be the careless parent. 

"People in their delusional mind can create such assumptions and confusions in their comments," he posted. "I don’t need any credits on this but USE your CIVILISED mind before your fingers or your BRAINS do the talking."

Zwan mentioned that the boy, whom he estimated to be three to four years old, kept screaming and crying after he was carted to safety. A woman then came running to the child from a distance, presumably the boy’s mother. He reportedly told the woman to “take care of your child” before departing. 

With things now clarified, Zwan has since been hailed as the hero of the story with his wife posting a proper portrait of him on Facebook. 

[embed]https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1846610585479950&set=p.1846610585479950&type=3&theater[/embed]

ilyas@asiaone.com