This dramatic photo shows the moment a 4-year-old American girl was rescued by a Muslim man who raced to Kenya’s Westg♛ate Mall with a gun to 🌺save as many people as he could.
A stunned Pඣortia Walton shuffled to the arms of Abdul Haji, the son of a former Kenyan security minister, 🌠as the carnage unfolded in the Nairobi shopping center last Saturday.
Haji leaped into𝔉 action after getting a text from his brother who was trapped inside by Somalian terrorists,
The brave man joined police officers fighting in the mall and excha🍸nged gunfire with the militants while trying to help others to safety.
Haji was crouching with another re𒅌scuer when he saw wo𒈔men hiding under a table.
One of th♌ose wom♈en was Katherine Walton, Portia’s mother. Haji asked Walton to encourage the girl to run toward him.
Portia bravely burst into the open corridor, where the ꦫstunning moment was captured by a Reute♚rs photographer.
Portia’s father, Philip, who was in the United States when the terrorists struck, was in disbelief w𒉰hen he saw the picture of his dau♛ghter darting across the mall.
“She’s not normally the kind of girl that would run to🥂 a stranger, particularly one with a𓆉 gun,” the 39-year-old dad told the paper.
Her mother was also pro🦂ud of her daughter’s braver🅰y.
“I don’t know how she knew to do it, but she did. She did what she was told and she went,” said Kathe🐷rine Walton, 38.
Haji said that he had been inspired by the girl and her courage in the midst of the siege and that it encouraged him to🦩 keep fighting.
ℱ“This little girl is a very brave gꦜirl,” he told the paper.
“Amid all this chaos around her, she remained🌸 calm, she wasn’t crying and she actually managed to runও towards men who were holding guns.
“I was really🍷 touched by this, and I thought if such a girl can be so brave . . . it gave us all courage.”
After Portia was brought to safety, Haji continued to evacuate Katherine a🅠nd her two other daughters, ages 13 months and 2 years.
They later reunited with her teenage sons who we🥃re trapped in the basement but escaped.
Despite it all, Haji refused to be called a hero.
“I think I did what any Kenyan in my situation would have ꦑdone to save lives, to save other humans regardless of their nationality, religion or creed,” he told The Telegraph.
Katherine꧒ Walton said shꦜe was thankful Haji had showed up to save her family.
“I think I owe Mister Haji a hug or two🃏,﷽” she said.