Vipan Kumar, an Indian construction worker in Romania who rescued a 5-year-old girl who had fallen into the freezing water of a lake in southern Romania will be made a citizen of honor of the city where he performed his brave act.
“I was on a walk, with a friend of mine. I saw the little girl in the water, then I jumped immediately. The water was very cold; everything happened very quickly,” Vipan Kumar told Digi24 television station.
The Indian says he didn’t think much before jumping into the water. “I just tried to get her out of the water, that’s all I thought about. The little girl was very brave,” the 47-year-old said.
The owner of the company where he works said that he is thinking of giving his employee a gift in the form of a trip back to India so that he can see his family again. Kumar also has a daughter, aged 8.
Vipan Kumar came to Romania to work and is an unskilled construction worker, Craiova, mayor Lia Olguta Vasilescu said.
“I decided to propose that he gets the title of honorary citizen. Craiova Local Council will formally grant the title, which comes with certain advantages. ”
We hope that his altruistic and humane gesture will inspire others,” the Craiova mayor told HotNews
In a message posted on Facebook, she provided more details about the man who rescued the little girl from the frozen lake.
“He is an Indian citizen. Vipan Kumar is 47 years old and has been in Romania since June. This month he became an employee of a company in Malu Mare commune, in Dolj county, as an unskilled worker in the construction field, and will obtain a residence permit,” Lia Olguta Vasilescu wrote on her Facebook page.
Images of Vipan Kumar’s intervention
Images of the dramatic rescue appeared on social media. People can see him going across the ice on a sleigh towards the little girl and him grabbing her arm before the ice gave way and he also falls into the water.
The man then held the little girl in his arms until rescuers came and pulled them both out. The two arrived at the hospital, with hypothermic shock, but are in stable condition.
The child was with her parents in the park, but at one point she jumped off the sled and ran on the ice to the middle of the lake. The ice broke, and the little girl fell into the water.
Her father immediately jumped into the water to save her, but he got stuck in the ice. The incident took place on Saturday and was reported by witnesses and several local officials on its Facebook page.
