“We were created in God’s own image." ~ Genesis 1:27
Carrying a backpack full of sand, Shavarsh
sprinted the final leg of a half-marathon powered by intense anger. The Soviets had dropped him from the national
swim team although, at 23, he’d already captured eight European titles and several
world records for the USSR.
Armenia had become an unlikely source of gold medals in
finswimming, a niche sport where competitors propel themselves underwater using
a monofin (like a dolphin’s tail).
Just as he rounded the bend, he watched in horror as a trolleybus full of people disappeared below the surface of Lake Yerevan. He sprinted down the hill, stripped to his undies, and dove into the icy-cold lake. His brother Kamo, also an expert swimmer, followed him into the water and remained above the sunken vehicle helping rescue surfacing passengers.
Shavarsh dove and kicked open the bus’s back window. Shards of glass shredded his leg; frigid water
helped stem the bleeding.
Some 90 passengers were trapped
underwater when it sunk: factory workers, schoolkids, students, housewives,
pensioners. Many were knocked
unconscious when the bus struck the water 80 feet below and sank 33 feet.
After lifting each passenger, Shavarsh took five deep
breaths, then back down. He dragged 30
to 35 passengers out of the water, several who were already deceased.
Among the chaos, Shavarsh left the scene unnoticed. At home his temperature spiked after the
prolonged exposure to Lake Yerevan’s cold, polluted water. He remained hospitalized for 45 days due to
pneumonia, sepsis, and irreversible lung damage.
Three weeks later he was back in the pool. He strapped on the giant monofin that harnessed
the explosive energy from core and leg muscles.
By the time the USSR championship rolled around the following spring, he
sought to reclaim his perch atop the finswimming world.
“I never raced so angry before,” he told one reporter.
His lungs burned as he touched
the wall a victor. Too weak to exit the
pool by himself, Kamo jumped in and delivered a massive bearhug for Shavarsh’s 11th
and final world record.
Only later would his heroism be recognized by Soviet
authorities who were loath to publicize any news (like a bus crash) that might reveal
frailties in the communist state.
Today, he remains a legend in the former USSR. Organizers of Sochi’s 2014 Winter Games even tapped
him to carry the Olympic torch into the Kremlin.
The 1976 trolleybus rescue was not the first time Shavarsh
Karapetyan saved lives. In 1985 while
walking near Yerevan’s Sports Arena, a fire broke out in the building. He’d receive severe burns after unselfishly
rush into the inferno before fight fighters arrived.
“Anyone can find himself in a place where somebody needs
help,” he said. “The main thing is to
remember what makes you human.”
Lord, among all that we have, there are so many hurting and needy people. We
ask that You bless them, help them, heal them. We also pray that You would open our eyes to
the opportunities to bless others in need. Amen
