Without hesitation, Christian Pühringer (42) jumped into the Traunsee to save a sailor from drowning.
The mechanical engineer from St. Konrad really only wanted to take a short walk on the Toscana peninsula in Gmunden on Saturday afternoon. “Suddenly I saw a sailboat that was driving strangely, apparently without a leader,” Pühringer tells the “Krone”. He then immediately called the police because it seemed strange to him. Only then did he see and hear a person in the water.
“I didn’t think long. I went to the coast, took off everything except my boxer shorts and swam to the man,” said Pühringer. It was about 500 meters. “The man didn’t say much, he was already very exhausted,” the brave rescuer describes the dramatic minutes. Hoping that the police would arrive soon with a boat, he did everything he could to keep the sailor afloat.
“It was very tiresome“
“The man was fully clothed, swimming was out of the question, I am not a lifeguard and the man was at least ten kilos heavier than me. It was very tiring,” said Pühringer. Fortunately, the police quickly arrived and got the two totally exhausted men out of the water. “Then I went home and told my girlfriend, who just came back from vacation, and my parents,” says the rescuer modestly.
Sailor was thrown from his boat
The 61-year-old from Ohlsdorf he rescued was previously on his boat. When he wanted to change a setting on the headsail, the wind suddenly got in his sails. This caused the boat to make a jibe of its own accord, with the sail boom flapping very quickly from side to side. The sailor was surprised and thrown from the tree into the sea.
Source: Krone
I am Ida Scott, a journalist and content author with a passion for uncovering the truth. I have been writing professionally for Today Times Live since 2020 and specialize in political news. My career began when I was just 17; I had already developed a knack for research and an eye for detail which made me stand out from my peers.
