A dramatic rescue in Zakynthos ended with a 23 year old Portuguese tourist being revived after rescuers performed continuous cardiopulmonary resuscitation for nearly 80 minutes.
The young man, identified as Alvaro, had been swimming off the Korithi area with his parents when he lost consciousness in the water. His father desperately called for help as a nearby fisherman and a doctor rushed to intervene.
Captain Anastasios Lykouressis said he heard the man’s father screaming for help and immediately headed toward the scene.
“I heard the father shouting with all his strength, ‘Help, help, my son,’” the captain recalled. After learning that the young man was underwater, he put on his mask and entered the sea.
“I pulled him up with my hands. The child was motionless,” he said, describing the moment he brought the unconscious tourist aboard.
Obstetrician gynecologist Dr. Vasilis Kanellopoulos, who was also on the boat, immediately began CPR.
“We found a flat surface on the boat where we could perform resuscitation. He had no pulse and slight pulmonary edema, as he was bleeding from his nose and mouth,” the doctor explained.
A Coast Guard vessel arrived and transferred the rescuers and patient. CPR continued during the transfer to a nearby port, where they waited for approximately 20 to 25 minutes for an ambulance from Zakynthos General Hospital.
The rescue efforts continued inside the ambulance, with medical staff maintaining CPR and administering medication.
Dr. Kanellopoulos credited the captain with playing a crucial role in saving the young man’s life.
“I think the real hero was the captain,” he said, adding that the presence of the young man’s parents provided the rescuers with extraordinary strength to continue.
The tourist was eventually taken to Zakynthos Hospital, where he remains intubated and is receiving treatment in the intensive care unit.
The rescue highlights the importance of immediate action and persistent CPR in critical drowning incidents, as rescuers refused to give up despite the prolonged resuscitation effort.
