A heavily pregnant woman saved herself from a devastating flood by using her fridge as a boat.
Elivanda de Souza Brandão admitted she thought she “was going to die.”
Her town was flooded following heavy rain.
The mum-to-be, 18, who is eight months pregnant, and husband Rulian Dias Amaral, 20, were forced to flee their home.
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He came up with the idea of using the fridge as a boat after he went to help a bedridden neighbour.
Rulian told local media: “By the time I swam back to my house, the water was up to my chest.
“The fridge was already floating inside the house, it was the only thing I could think of to save my wife.
“I put her inside the fridge, pushed it outside, and jumped into the water.
“I floated alongside the fridge until I found high ground to take shelter.”
Elivanda said: “I was really scared when he put me in the fridge.
“Scared that it wouldn’t work, scared of losing my husband too.
“It was desperate.”
After fleeing their flooded home, the couple encountered more dangers on their journey to find high ground in the early hours of 23 March.
Rulian said they were nearly electrocuted by a utility pole while floating through the flooded streets in remote Mimoso do Sul, northeast of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
He said: “We almost hit a pole, we almost died of electrocution.
“Then the fridge capsized and Elivanda swallowed a lot of water.”
Elivanda, who is expecting a baby girl in the coming weeks, said they had to abandon the fridge to swim to a nearby residence.
She said: “All I could think about was saving my daughter.
“Rulian was afraid of me hitting my belly against something and losing our baby.
“I prayed to God and asked him to get us out of there.”
After reaching the house, the couple took refuge on the roof and waited there all night until being rescued by the emergency services at around 9 am.
During the chaotic scenes, Rulian said he somehow broke an ankle, as reported on Need To Know.
He recounted: “It was a desperate situation. I broke my ankle and it hurt a lot.
“But God gave us strength.”
Flash floods in the region have so far left at least 20 people dead and three missing.
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