Verona, carried by the current for ten miles, a firefighter who tried to save suicide

The alarm sounded shortly after 9.30 pm: two policemen had tried in vain to arrest and assist a possible suicide. That man wanted to die, at any cost. He had thrown himself into the river Adige from Ponte Pietra in Verona, letting himself be carried away by the rain-swollen waters. And when they saw him grabbing the arm of a firefighter diver who wanted to get him to safety, he fought with all his might to free himself.

He did not want to be rescued, he did not want to save himself and trying to free himself from the stranger who was struggling to bring him to shore, he risked making him die. Several times the firefighter, Danilo Marino, plunged into the water while trying to drag him to safety, until the rope that kept him tied to the shore held by his companions came loose, he lost his grip and was dragged by the Actual. They found him 16 kilometers downstream and five hours later, still alive thanks to the technical clothing supplied that made him float on the waters of the river laden with debris. Admitted to the ‘Borgo Trento’ hospital in Verona due to hypothermia, Marino will be discharged today. However, there is no trace of the possible suicide.

The firefighter’s companions told the night of fear and courage in the river. “The intervention lasted about ten minutes during which the person who had been rescued continuously tried to free himself from our colleague who was dragged to the bottom several times,” they say from the Verona Command. “A very dangerous situation, with the current very strong and our operator tied to a rope supported by his companions who were on the ground. At a certain point the safety rope was released, our colleague released himself while the wounded man disappeared dragged by the water from at least 6 meters high in a section where they are normally even less than 2 meters ”.

The firefighter at that point could no longer return to shore and was swept away by the current. Thanks to the suit that allowed him to float and a strong training, the firefighter was recovered at 2.15 by another team of firefighters. A ‘navigation’ of almost 16 kilometers concluded in Ponte Pérez, in Zevio, after having also passed two artificial barriers. To save him, he said, it was also the sirens of the vehicles of his companions that tried to follow him from the ground advancing along the banks.

Also last night, a few hours later, a second similar intervention that always saw the Veronese firefighters compromised. Another man had thrown himself into the waters of the Adige near the San Pancrazio bridge. Now the two bodies are also searched with the help of drones.