A copy of the bravery award posthumously awarded to Pat Sin Leng hillfire hero Tam Ka-fat will be burnt in his memory, his family said yesterday.
Tam, 39, committed suicide by burning himself to death in Hatton Road near the Peak on July 13, unable to cope with the death of one of the four children he had rescued from the fire.
His bravery was honoured yesterday when his mother Lee Mon, 73, collected a Royal Humane Society Award.
She said her son had committed suicide because of the sorrow he felt over the death of Rita Yu Hui-wan, 13.
Two other children and two teachers from the Fung Yiu King Memorial School were also killed in the inferno that raged across the hillside on February 10 last year.
'He told me he was very upset about failing to save the life of the girl. He couldn't sleep or eat well after her death. I'm sorry he could not be here to receive the award himself,' Ms Lee said.
