In the days leading up to Tet, social networks in Quang Tri spread a clip recording the moment when many people urgently breathed and fought for the life of a drowning victim on the Thach Han River, Dai Loc bridge section. Few people expected that among those who rushed to rescue, there was a highland teacher on his way home for Tet.
According to research, the person appearing in the clip is Mr. Nguyen Xuan Thao (40 years old), a physical education teacher working at Dakrong Secondary and High School. At noon on February 12, after completing his year-end work, teacher Thao packed his luggage and left school, driving more than 100km back to his hometown in Trieu Binh commune to reunite with his family.
When passing Dai Loc bridge, seeing an unusual crowd gathering, teacher Thao stopped the car to inquire and heard that someone had just been swept away by water and was floating in the middle of the river. "Seeing people still floating, you have to rescue them immediately, any minute of delay is dangerous," the teacher recalled.
Not choosing to jump from the bridge because of the high altitude, the teacher ran along the riverbank, hurriedly took off his clothes, left his belongings to a nearby taxi driver and rushed into the water. Despite being stopped because of the long swimming distance and strong current, he still decided to approach the victim.
When the teacher swam nearby, a local boat was mobilized in time and quickly picked up the victim. The group brought the victim ashore in critical condition.
Here, teacher Thao and the people immediately performed first aid and artificial respiration. Thanks to being the Secretary of the School Youth Union and a physical education teacher, and being trained in first aid skills for drowning, teacher calmly coordinated with everyone. About 15 minutes later, an ambulance arrived, determined that the victim still had a pulse and then transferred him to the hospital.
After completing the rescue, the highland teacher quietly returned to the riverbank, put on his clothes again and continued his journey back to his hometown as if nothing had happened. When he got home, fearing his family would worry, he only told it later and asked adults to "speak for him" to reassure his wife.
The victim's family called to inquire, I also really hope they will overcome it soon. Everyone at that time tried their best, just hoping to save people's lives," teacher Thao shared.
The act of stopping in the middle of the road to return to his hometown for Tet, ready to face danger to save people by teacher Nguyen Xuan Thao is receiving many compliments from the online community, like a beautiful story about the righteous gesture in everyday life.
