He was only 15 years old, but that morning before his school he made a decision that would save the lives of many other boys.
On January 6, 2014, Aitzaz Hasan Bangash arrived late in his school in Ibrahimzai, in the Hangu district, in the northwest of Pakistan.
While the morning assembly was in progress, he remained outside.
It was there that he noticed something unusual.
A man was heading decisively towards school. Aitzaz realized something was wrong and tried to stop him.
The man, however, continued to advance.
Then the boy could have gone away and search for shelter. He did exactly the opposite.
I ran.
Aitzaz tried to block it physically before it could reach the building where hundreds of students were located.
The man was wearing an explosive jacket.
Detonation occurred before he could get into the school. Aitzaz died because of the explosion, but no other student was injured.
In a few moments, a normal school delay had led to a situation where hundreds of lives depended on a choice.
After the death of the boy, his father, Mujahid Ali, spoke words destined to become the symbol of the affair: his son had made his mother cry, but had spared the crying to hundreds of other mothers.
Pakistan gave him the memory of Sitara-e-Shujaat, the Star of Value, one of the most important civil honors in the country for acts of courage. The school was also named after him.
Malala Yousafzai, who knew from personal experience what it meant to be affected by extremist violence, publicly paid tribute to the courage of Aitzaz.
Yet, beyond the honors and awards, its history continues to be remembered especially for what happened in those few seconds.
Aitzaz was not a soldier. He didn't have a weapon and he wasn't trained to deal with an attacker.
He was a 15-year-old boy who saw the danger heading towards his school.
And while the instinct would suggest running away, he chose to run in the opposite direction.