The quick action of 24-year-old Giorgos Nikolopoulos helped avoid a tragedy as he saved a three-year-old girl’s life at Kavouri Beach, Katakolo.
The lifeguard rushed in to pull the unconscious girl from the sea on Thursday (25 July) after beachgoers had noticed her body floating motionless roughly 30 metres from shore.
The girl’s grandmother was the first to spot her, calling immediately for help.
Nikolopoulos, a member of the “Tyrnavos Lifeguard Association – POSEIDON”, intervened, pulling the girl from the water and started intensive resuscitation efforts.
After a few minutes, the girl regained consciousness.
Speaking to iliaenimerosi, the lifeguard described the incident, noting that he could not tell if she had a pulse upon reaching her in the water.
“I got out of the sea with her in my arms, laid her on the beach, and started hitting her back and doing abdominal compressions,” he said.
“After the first compressions, the child started to bring up fluids and foam from her mouth and nose, like she was beginning to breathe. I kept going more intensely until I detected a pulse. She had started breathing again, she was back. I gave her oxygen, and the ambulance crew, which had arrived meanwhile, took her to Pyrgos hospital.”
The 24-year-old remarked simply”I just did my job, what I’ve been trained to do”.
“At that moment, I wasn’t thinking about anything else but getting the child back. I simply did what I had learned, what we practice before our exams. The process went as it was supposed to, and fortunately, the ambulance came very quickly,” he said.
He was quick to shoot down thoughts of him feeling like a hero, saying:
“No, I don’t think like that. It’s very important that the child recovered. I happened to be there, but I’m sure my colleagues would have done everything necessary to save a person too. I believe lifeguards are essential on crowded beaches and elsewhere. I keep thinking this happened just 2-3 minutes before my shift ended. What would have happened if it was 20 minutes later and I had left the beach? Thankfully, everything went well.”
