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A Myanmar resident holding a sign that says, “take what you need and promise to come back alive,” offers plastic helmets and protective vests for free to anti-coup protesters. (Facebook screenshot)

Citizens in Myanmar have been distributing protective gear for free amid demonstrations that saw 38 people lose their lives to military bullets on a single day.

A Facebook post by a Myanmar resident Thursday showed a man who had brought hundreds of plastic helmets and protective vests into the streets to offer them for free to citizens taking part in demonstrations. An image showed him holding a sign urging demonstrators to “take what you need and promise to come back alive.”

A growing number of people in Myanmar have been fatally shot by the military after taking part in demonstrations without helmets. On Wednesday, a 19-year-old woman died after being shot in the head demonstrating without a helmet in Mandalay, Myanmar’s second-largest city.

At the time, the woman was wearing a black T-shirt bearing the English-language words “Everything will be OK.” That phrase has quickly become a symbol of hope among the people of Myanmar.

By Choi Hyun-june, staff reporter

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