A bodyguard who was shot at the Kuala Lumpur airport on April 14 while protecting his high-risk client from her husband was assigned with the job because of his training and extensive experience, said his employer.

Mr Mohd Nur Hadith, nicknamed Along, is in critical condition. He has been working with Elite Bodyguard Service Company for the past four years and has 18 years of experience as a bodyguard, the company’s director Rashid Ratag told Utusan Malaysia.

Mr Nur’s profile on the company’s Facebook says he is 37 years old and fluent in Malay and English. His stated talents are being a personal driver for VVIPs as well as being a bodyguard cum driver.

Mr Rashid said that as the client – who had filed a police report against her husband for criminal intimidation – was considered a high-risk case, Mr Nur was picked to be her bodyguard.

Mr Nur and his client, a travel agency owner who goes by the username Farah Cie on social media, had been at the arrival hall of Kuala Lumpur International Airport Terminal 1 to receive Muslim pilgrims returning from Mecca at about 1.30am on April 14 when her husband pulled the trigger on her.

But Mr Nur took the bullet in the abdomen instead. The bullet reportedly missed his vital organs, but left him in critical condition.

“I didn’t expect Along to be so committed to the task given to him that he was willing to risk his life,” said Mr Rashid.

Mr Nur’s colleagues told Bernama he had not been supposed to be working on the day of the shooting, but had to stand in for another colleague who was on holiday because of Hari Raya Aidilfitri.

Police are now hunting down the suspected shooter, whom they identified as 38-year-old Hafizul Harawi.