THREE elementary school pupils saved the life of a pensioner on January 28. She had fallen into an icy brook in Banská Bystrica, but thanks to the boys’ prompt action, firemen arrived soon enough to rescue the woman, aged 60.
The woman, who was injured and suffering from hypothermia, was taken to the trauma department of the Roosevelt Hospital. Michal Strečok (11), Martin Anguš (12), and Marek Chocholáček (12) received their headmaster’s praise; their student parliament is likely to propose them for a Children's Deed of the Year award, the Sme daily wrote.
The boys, who were returning home in the evening from the Európa shopping centre, heard a voice calling for help. At the bottom of a deep, vertical bank, they saw the injured woman in a brook.
“We heard a voice,” Strečok said. “We saw a woman in the brook. She stood there and was cold. We told her not be afraid and to wait for an ambulance and doctors, who would come soon and help her.” Anguš added that the woman's head was injured. The boys were prevented from reaching her by a steep bank, which was about two metres high. As they sought a way to summon help they spotted their teacher, Monika Vigašová, who called the rescue services.
“If it were not for the boys, the lady would have been in big trouble. I would not have noticed her, as I was on the other side,” Vigašová said.
Ján Chmelík, headmaster of the Spojová Street Elementary School, attended by Michal and Martin, called the boys’ deed extraordinary.
“The boys showed their prudence,” Chmelík told the daily Sme. “They stand as an example even to some adults.”
