Grandfather and baby in Mur – Graz student have already saved a life

Running a few kilometers along the Mur in Graz, that was the plan of nurse and medical student Ute Leitner (36) on Shrove Tuesday. But suddenly she could hardly believe her eyes. “Do they want to go swimming now?” were her first thoughts when she saw a man standing up to his navel in the icy Mur. He had a baby in his arm and held the stroller with his other hand.

Complained of severe pain
“The stroller was completely submerged in water. But the man did not call for help. To me it was a sign that he must be completely shocked,” she says. Desperately, he held out the screaming, soaking baby to her.

At the same time a lady came by with her grandchild. She gave the child to take to a café, where she changed clothes. Meanwhile, Ute Leitner took care of the distraught Bosnian (51), who was clearly in shock. He cannot explain why he suddenly found himself standing in the freezing cold Mur with his grandson; the memory is gone due to the shock. However, he complained of severe pain.

Shortly afterwards, the Red Cross arrived with three cars: a jumbo, an emergency vehicle and another ambulance. The jumbo is staffed primarily by volunteer medical students and doctors with doctorates from the medical corps.

Knowledge of first aid saves lives
“You can train as a paramedic just like me,” says a young man who was on duty with the Red Cross on Shrove Tuesday, including during this incident. “This once again made it clear how important first aid is. It was important to keep the baby warm. “Babies cool down much faster than adults,” he reports.

Fortunately, because the rescue chain worked perfectly, everything went well. The shocked grandfather and grandchild were taken to hospital with hypothermia.

It was not the first time that Ute Leitner had to intervene. On the highway, she and other witnesses rescue a man from an overturned car that was already leaking gasoline.