A 23-year-old hero tragically drowned after jumping into a stream to try to save a struggling autistic child.
Heliandro Cardoso Evangelista was at a local swimming spot on Wednesday (11 Feb) when he noticed the boy and his father struggling in the water.
Despite the father trying to save his son, both were swept away by the strong current.
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Not knowing how to swim himself, Heliandro jumped into the small river in a desperate attempt to rescue the 11-year-old.
Hearing cries for help, another man nearby, Bruno Neves, also jumped in.
Bruno managed to pull the boy – João Miguel, who has level-three autism – out alive.
By that point, Heliandro had disappeared beneath the dark water and could not be found, as reported by Need To Know.
João Miguel’s father, Leandro, exhausted from fighting the current, told local media: “I tried to swim and held on to his (João Miguel’s) arm.
“But then Heliandro pulled on his arm, and the current took both of them.”
Hero Bruno added: “I heard people screaming and thought it might be a robbery or something like that.
“Then I looked from above and saw him (João Miguel) – he was already going under. I jumped from above, went over there, and pulled him to the shore.
“I pulled him out – but I didn’t realise there were two people. When I pulled him, the other one (Heliandro) went under. I didn’t see it happen.”
He also said: “God must have sent me here, otherwise he (João Miguel) would have died.”
Firefighters quickly arrived at the scene in Itacoatiara, in Brazil’s Amazon.
A little over 10 minutes into their search, they recovered Heliandro’s body from a depth of three metres (10ft).
His body has been returned to his devastated family in Itacoatiara.
Authorities reminded the public that in such situations, it is safer to throw a flotation device or object for the struggling swimmer rather than entering the water yourself.
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