A hero has emerged in the aftermath of Baghdad's horrific bridge stampede last week that claimed over a thousand lives. A 19-year-old Sunni man is being hailed as a symbol of Iraqi unity in a time of sectarian tension.

Uthman al-Ubaidi jumped into the Tigris when hundreds of Shias were forced off an overhead bridge. The Sunni man rescued six people, but when he returned to the river for a seventh, he vanished from sight. He was not seen again.

Shahad al-Ubaidi holds a photo of her brother, Uthman, who died while rescuing six people from the Tigris river (Getty Images)

STORY: Iraq stampede

The young man from the Sunni district of Aadhamiya has become a household name, spurring calls for Iraqi reconciliation. His image is plastered in many places, including two main mosques, one Shia and one Sunni.

Many Shias blame Sunnis for inciting panic during a religious march, which killed 1,005 people. But al-Ubaidi's family hopes his death can bring Iraq's fractious communities together.

"I am really proud of my only son," said the boy's father, Ali al-Ubaidi. "At first I was distraught, but when I heard he drowned after rescuing so many people it eased the pain."

Najla Mohammed, Ubaidi's mother, said her son loathed the sectarian violence over the past two years since the fall of Saddam Hussein. "All of his friends were Shiites, it was his dream that Iraqis should be united regardless of their sect," she said.