Mühlviertler Christian Bräuer (47) saw a woman floating in the river during work on the Danube. He took off his clothes and swam to the 61-year-old in the 2.2 degree cold water, putting his life in danger. Thanks to his efforts, the woman from Linz was rescued.
“I’m very happy that everything went well and that the effort was worth it, because it was a wild game,” says rescuer Christian Bräuer from Oberneukirchen the day after his heroic act.
The 47-year-old took water samples for Linz AG on the banks of the Danube near Plesching on Monday morning. The meter showed 2.2 degrees Celsius. “Suddenly an elderly gentleman shouted that there was a woman floating in the river. I didn’t believe it at first, but then I saw it for myself,” says Bräuer.
Barefoot and in underwear
Since the current was extremely strong at that time, the Mühlviertler drove his car down the Danube to a less dangerous place. “I stripped down to my underwear and swam 15 meters to her.”
The woman did not respond to his calls. According to Bräuer, she was unconscious but breathing: “I wanted to prevent her from panicking and using me as a lifebuoy and pulling me into the depths.”
This danger did not exist. The 47-year-old pulled the woman – a Bosnian woman (61) from Linz – to the couch. However, both had previously been carried away by the current 50 meters towards Steyregg. A jogger helped carry the unconscious woman over the dike.
“The woman was wearing two heavy coats, which we took off her. I covered her with my dry work clothes.” An emergency doctor treated the severely hypothermic woman, she was taken to hospital and her life is out of danger.
Heat room
Bräuer drove to his company to take a shower and then home, where he sat in the heating room. “I was just cold, but other than that I got through everything fine.”
Source: Krone
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