Cold Water Rescue

A quick-thinking waiter saves three women from drowning

- Peter Hummel

AT THE FLOSSLÄNDE restaurant in scenic Augsburg, Germany, waiter Paul Blachut is busy at work. It's a warm Sunday afternoon in May 2021 and many cyclists and hikers have come for refreshments at this pretty place beside the Lech river.

From behind the bar, Blachut, 24, has a good view of the river; there are stone steps that stretch some 20 metres down from the restaurant to the riverbank. He can see that, along the S-shaped shore, people are picnicking and children are playing. Many are cooling their feet in the river. The meltwater from the Alps means the water is very cold at this time of year, and it flows quickly.

Among those enjoying the cooling water are a mother and her two teenage daughters, all in long dresses. They're standing on the edge of the riverbank, playing with an inflatable tube when, suddenly, the girls lose their footing and are caught in the river's current.