SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina – One of Bosnia's three presidents helped a family rush to the hospital for the delivery of their baby and the grateful parents named the child after him, his office confirmed Monday.
Zeljko Komsic, a Croat member of the presidency, and his motorcade were returning from an official visit to neighboring Croatia last week when they noticed a vehicle trying to speed along a busy highway near the central Bosnian town of Maglaj.
When they asked the driver what the problem was, the father-to-be said his wife was in labor and because of complications, urgently need to get to the hospital in nearby Zenica.
Komsic instructed the police in his motorcade to assist with clearing the traffic, his office told The Associated Press.
"Komsic even helped carry my wife into the hospital," the father — identified only by his first name Suad — was quoted by Bosnian media as saying.
"I have no words to thank Mr. Komsic; he saved my wife and my son," Suad said.
Suad and his wife Jasminka, both Muslims, decided to name the child Zeljko instead of a traditional Muslim name, Mustafa, they had earlier chosen. It is rare in Bosnia that Muslims give Croat, Roman Catholic names to their children.
The peace agreement that ended the 1992-95 Bosnian war left the country divided into a Muslim-Croat federation and a Bosnian Serb mini-state. Each have their own government and police, and are linked only by joint state institutions such as the three-member presidency, each representing an ethnic group.
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