Determined 3-year-old Sarah went out to her backyard garden on July 30 and saw a little bird trapped by a protective net put around a sapling.

Feeling bad for the bird, she called her father Manas Ranjan Mohanty, a resident of Jajpur Road in eastern India, to set it free.

Manas told her she could lift the net from below and let the bird out herself.

But Sarah was afraid to get close to the bird thinking it might hurt her.

Manas told her that it was her responsibility to help others when they were in trouble.

“Keep a safe distance and free the bird, it won’t hurt you,” he said.

Sarah went to the net, lifted it tentatively and broke into a sweet smile when the bird, a jungle babbler, flew to its freedom.