The Martyr Othman Al Obeidi Statue

Othman bin Ali bin Abdul Hafiz Al Obeidi was born in 1986 in the Al Safeena neighborhood of Al Adhamiyah, and grew up in an environment deeply rooted along the Tigris River, within a family known as the Al Obeid tribe, which held a prestigious position in the area. He was a young man gifted in swimming from childhood, earning him the nickname "Al Sabooh" (The Swimmer) due to his exceptional speed in the water. Although he was still a fifth-year preparatory school student, his reputation for swimming prowess spread among his peers and the people of his area, who had inherited the art of swimming as part of their Baghdadi riverine identity.

On August 31 (25 Rajab in the Hijri calendar), during the ceremonies commemorating the death anniversary of Imam Musa Al Kadhim, thousands of Shia pilgrims customarily crossed the Al A'imma Bridge on foot from Al Adhamiyah to Al Kadhimiya to observe the religious occasion. On that ill-fated day, security conditions were fragile following the American invasion of Iraq, and police had closed all routes leading to Al Kadhimiya except the Al A'imma Bridge, causing suffocating congestion on the bridge.

Suddenly, rumors spread through the crowds about a bomb about to explode. A wave of panic and terror swept through, and pilgrims began pushing and fleeing. Hundreds fell from the bridge some were pushed while others jumped out of sheer fear. Hundreds of pilgrims fell into the Tigris River, many of them women and children who could not swim, in a tragic scene that shook the conscience of the capital.

In Al Adhamiyah, Othman was preparing for his exams when he heard the urgent call from the imam of the Abu Hanifa Mosque, who called upon the people of the area to rescue the drowning. Othman did not hesitate; he left everything behind and ran with the youth of Al Adhamiyah toward the bridge, then removed his clothes and threw himself into the river.

He began rescuing people one after another, pulling six people to the riverbank amid cries of shock and emotion. On his seventh attempt, as he rushed to save a woman, her abaya wrapped around him, paralyzing his movement, and the water engulfed him. His friends tried to pull him out, but fate was faster Othman drowned as a martyr for humanity.

Al Adhamiyah immortalized the memory of Othman Al Obeidi with a memorial monument in the Ra's Al Hiwar neighborhood. Schools and sports halls were named after him, and swimming competitions were established in his memory. He was not merely a young man who sacrificed himself; he became a living symbol of national unity and one of the stories of Iraqi nobility that helped calm the flames of sectarian strife after years of division.

Through his heroism, Othman embodied the meaning of brotherhood among the sons of the nation, choosing to become the bridge between two sects torn apart by war, deciding to drown so that others might live.