The Story Of Shavarsh Karapetyan, The Champion Swimmer Who Saved 20 People From A Sinking Trolleybus

After a trolleybus plunged into Yerevan Lake in Armenia in 1976, Shavarsh Vladimiri Karapetyan dove in and spent more than 20 minutes pulling people out from the wreckage.

Shavarsh Karapetyan said it sounded like a bomb. On a peaceful late summer day in Yerevan, Armenia, a trolleybus suddenly careened from the roadway and plunged straight into Yerevan Lake. While most watched in horror, Karapetyan sprang into action.

He had one goal: save as many people as possible.

A 23-year-old champion finswimmer, Karapetyan dove into the lake, swam down to the submerged bus, and broke a window with his feet. Then he started pulling the desperate, drowning passengers to safety.

Karapetyan became a hero that day. But it was not the first time — nor the last — that he’d charge into danger to save strangers’ lives.

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