r/interesting • u/Green____cat • Oct 04 '24
In 1976, Shavarsh Karapetyan, an Armenian Olympic swimmer, saves 20 people trapped in a bus that sank 80' offshore. It took him several hours to save them all, and he suffered injuries that put him in the hospital for 45 days—it ended his Olympic career. HISTORY
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u/Green____cat Oct 04 '24
In 1985, he happened to pass by a burning building and rushed inside, again saving people trapped inside one at a time until he collapsed. He was again hospitalized with severe burns and lung damage.
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u/AffectionateYakX Oct 04 '24
Wow and wow!
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u/Tritium3016 Oct 04 '24
It was super easy, barely an inconvenience.
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u/10BAW Oct 04 '24
Saving 20 people trapped in a bus that sank is tight!
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u/buffalooo27 Oct 04 '24
Did he do a backflip and snap the bad guy's neck tho?
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u/Spreadthinontoast Oct 04 '24
He carried the last potential victims; a child, old lady and was followed by a dog as the building exploded behind him in slow motion, as is the way of all superheroes. This guy is amazing, I’m glad i found this story this morning.
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u/poopsemiofficial Oct 04 '24
Nah, he simply knocked him out cold with a wicked spin kick, then dragged him out of the building, obviously.
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u/Mundane-Document-810 Oct 04 '24
You can add another wow:
In 1974 Shavarsh was riding a bus when the driver pulled over to check on a mechanical problem. The engine was left running and the bus suddenly started rolling down towards a mountain gorge. Karapetyan broke down the partition separating the passengers from the driver's compartment, he then took control of the steering wheel and turned the bus away from the cliff
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u/Ubelsteiner Oct 04 '24
Ok.... now I'm just starting to get suspicious lol
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u/Side_show Oct 04 '24
Mr Glass been trying to test that MF until he found his weakness (fire, not water)
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u/confirmSuspicions Oct 04 '24
This has got to be a new butterfly effect movie pitch hidden in wikipedia.
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u/Agitated-Zebra4334 Oct 04 '24 edited Oct 04 '24
And this 1974 bus incident:
In 1974 Shavarsh was riding a bus when the driver pulled over to check on a mechanical problem. The engine was left running and the bus suddenly started rolling down towards a mountain gorge. Karapetyan broke down the partition separating the passengers from the driver's compartment, he then took control of the steering wheel and turned the bus away from the cliff.
This guy later appeared in Final Destination 1,2 and 3 and escaped fate. Ok, I made that one up.
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u/throwaway098764567 Oct 04 '24
i mean i guess he's handy to have around but i think at that point i'd probably run the other way if i saw him
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u/No-Respect5903 Oct 04 '24
damn most people go through life without ever really having an opportunity to be truly heroic but this guy had 3. I can't say that if I saw a bus fall into the water I would think "I've gotta dive in and save them!" though.
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u/MyyWifeRocks Oct 04 '24
Stay out of buildings and off of busses when this guy visits your city.
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u/kansai2kansas Oct 04 '24
It’s like the anime & manga series of Detective Conan and Detective Kindaichi.
Somehow a murder always happens when they are visiting a particular place, and these two detectives are always there to help solve them.
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u/Several-Signature583 Oct 04 '24
Plot twist: he put out road spikes and later set that fire.
j/k he is real life superhero
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u/cokolino47 Oct 04 '24 edited Oct 04 '24
Alternatively only stay in buildings and busses when this guy visits your city
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Oct 04 '24
People like this is why humanity great. Not people like us lol yeah I’m talking about you too if you’re reading this get rekt
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u/ScrofessorLongHair Oct 04 '24
He should've just tossed his giant cockout the window and let people slide down it to safety. He'd have probably gotten out of that building faster.
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u/Tea_master_666 Oct 04 '24
On September 16, 1976, Karapetyan was jogging alongside Yerevan Lake with his brother Kamo. Karapetyan had just completed his usual finswimming distance of 20 km (12 mi) when he heard the sound of a crash and saw a sinking trolleybus.
The trolleybus had lost control and fallen from a dam wall, laying at the bottom of the reservoir some 25 meters (80 ft) offshore at a depth of 10 meters (33 ft).Despite the challenging conditions of sewage-infested waters and poor visibility due to silt, Karapetyan courageously dived in and used his legs to kick open the back window of the trolleybus. He managed to rescue 46 out of the 92 passengers onboard, saving the lives of 20 individuals.
Yep, this guys is a superhero.
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u/IndependenceSad9300 Oct 04 '24
The non 46 died? Also the non 20 of the 46 died?
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u/Robmart Oct 04 '24
He rescued 46, but only 20 survived
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u/witchywater11 Oct 04 '24
I hope he didn't beat himself up about it. The fact that he managed to get more than half of those people at least out of the water is a great kindness, even if they didn't make it.
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u/ChompyChomp Oct 04 '24
Also because that would mean he was beating up a guy who was in the hospital for injuries relating to saving a bunch of people.
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u/AzureDreamer Oct 04 '24
But if youare in the hospital for injuries related to saving a bunch of people maybe we shouldn't give him too much crap for beating up a guy in the hospital with injuries related to saving a bunch of people. Maybe he earned it
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u/MrNotEinstein Oct 04 '24
Hospitals these days only have enough main character doctors for one hero patient at a time anyway. If there's more than one then they've gotta fight for the privilege
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u/Winjin Oct 04 '24
As far as I read he was very distraught he couldn't save more, and what's worse, one of the dives he did he mistook a leather cushion from the seat for a human - he's sure he could save another person.
This man is a hero, indeed. And he's still alive, and multiple countries invited him multiple times to be the Torch Bearer at Olympics for them!
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u/Leaky_gland Oct 04 '24
How do rescue 46 on 20 dives?
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u/Ph455ki1 Oct 04 '24
If you dive down and kick the window in without taking anyone back with you, but as a result 10 can escape through the opening you just made then you still rescued 10 people.
I don't think he necessarily had to bring the 46 up himself manually, but the fact that he made it possible for them to escape is enough to say you rescued them
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u/SemperSimple Oct 04 '24
Ahh, true. This makes more sense. Obviously, the people would be trying to get out if there is a way.
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u/HalfwrongWasTaken Oct 04 '24 edited Oct 04 '24
46 were pulled/escaped. 37 by Shavarsh, 9 escaping on their own through the window. Only 20 of those 46 survived.
He dove into the cold murky waters of Yerevan Lake some 40 times, going in and out through broken glass, forced to feel around for people in the dark. Each plunge took about 25 seconds. On his last dive, on the verge of fainting, he emerged clutching a seat cushion instead of a victim. “I had nightmares about that cushion for a long time. I could have saved someone else’s life,” Savarsh told Russia's Channel One.
Savarsh pulled 37 people out of the lake, and nine others escaped on their own through the broken window. The rescue operation was set up in a matter of minutes. Doctors who arrived from a nearby hospital treated the victims right on the shore. Unfortunately, only 20 of those Shavarsh rescued could be saved.
From one of the cited wiki sources (which conflicts a bit with the rest of the wiki's information...)
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u/Sans-valeur Oct 04 '24
Dude swam 20km, then went for a jog, then spent hours diving and rescuing people. I’m exhausted just thinking about it.
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u/marsap888 Oct 04 '24
Karapetyan courageously dived in and used his legs to kick open the back window of the trolleybus.
I doubt it is possible to kick window under the water
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u/D0hB0yz Oct 04 '24
Grabbed the bus with his hands and kicked off of the window more than likely. Feat of pure strength more than impact.
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u/HakimeHomewreckru Oct 04 '24
And confirmed in the same wiki article when they talk about about people using the window he broke to escape
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u/DryPersonality Oct 04 '24
How common was laminated glass in 1976
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u/atemt1 Oct 04 '24
Most windows expesaly in on bussen back than were mounted in rubbers you can apsolutly foce out if you wanted to
Source: my boat fron that time stil uses to rubbers and i have removed them befor
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u/IdidntVerify Oct 04 '24
You’re right, busted. This never happened and the whole post and accompanying links were all of us pranking just you. Rats guys, we’ve been figured out.
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u/CaliforniaNavyDude Oct 04 '24
The man was an Olympic swimmer, those people can kick through the water better than anyone on the planet. Getting kicked by children learning to swim definitely hurts, an Olympian would be able to kick so much harder. I don't doubt it for a second that he could do that.
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u/Searbh Oct 04 '24
Kicking a window out from the inside would be near impossible but the other way around with a bus full of air the pressure would be working with you.
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u/Gothewahs Oct 04 '24 edited Oct 04 '24
Is he still alive deserves some sort of recognition like a medal from the government
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u/nikolapc Oct 04 '24
I think he's fine for medals. You can find a pic on insta of him absolutely covered by them.
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u/vincecarterskneecart Oct 04 '24
how did they survive underwater for several hours?
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u/Professional-Bit3280 Oct 04 '24
Air pockets form when things sink. There is a guy who was at the bottom of the ocean after his boat sunk for like several days once. The boat flipped over creating an upside down “U” shape with the edges touching the ocean floor. So the air that was there when it went down got trapped in the top of the upside down “U”, which happened to be enough oxygen for several days for just one guy.
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u/ima-ima Oct 04 '24
They weren't fully underwater, they were trapped in the bus half-sinking if I'm correct.
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u/StormlightObsessed Oct 04 '24
Most didn't, only 20 of the 92 passengers survived, less than half of the 46 he pulled out :(
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u/Menarok Oct 04 '24
What's an ended sports career or some survivable injuries against saving that many lives?
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u/Tea_master_666 Oct 04 '24
He damaged his lungs due to pneumonia.
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u/Different-Pin5223 Oct 04 '24
And again later from smoke inhalation when saving people from a burning building. I think he's actually got to be Mr. Incredible
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u/PoopyMouthwash84 Oct 04 '24
That sacres the shit outta me. You can be a hero and save people from a burning building, but you get permanent lung damage if you do
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u/WeHaveAllBeenThere Oct 04 '24
Pretty easily decision lol
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u/SpasmodicSpasmoid Oct 04 '24
Several hours!? In an airpocket (presumably) with flailing drowning by panicking freezing people. WTF. And only he was helping?
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u/LOKl31 Oct 04 '24
In wasn’t very common to be able to swim back then especially when you were from a rural background.
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u/FriendlyDrummers Oct 04 '24
Who else was going to swim 80 feet down?? That's an insane distance even in good conditions
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u/StormlightObsessed Oct 04 '24
It was a rough swim in unclear and dirty water, anyone else would've just been adding to the death toll.
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u/W4R_Ace Oct 04 '24
Most people can't swim 80 feet both ways while carrying a person who probably can't swim.
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u/Serve_me_the_pizza Oct 04 '24
The combined effect of multiple lacerations from glass shards led to Karapetyan’s hospitalization for 45 days, as he developed pneumonia and sepsis. Subsequent lung complications prevented Karapetyan from continuing his sports career. He did, however, insist on one last meet despite his damaged lungs, and managed to set a new world record despite the pain.
Getting a world record after all of that is insane.
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u/Weldobud Oct 04 '24
Rescuing people from the water is so hard - and dangerous. You’d want to be an Olympic swimmer.
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u/DressyDelight Oct 04 '24
I can't even imagine giving up my lifelong dream like that. Shavarsh Karapetyan is a true hero—saving 20 people and sacrificing his Olympic career in the process. Incredible.
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u/Froot-Batz Oct 04 '24
That's what he was training for!
I'm reading all the stories about this dude, and if he doesn't have a statue built after him somewhere, there is no justice in this world.
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u/bodhidharma132001 Oct 04 '24
No good deed goes unpunished
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u/Babel_Triumphant Oct 04 '24
Maturity is realizing that saving twenty human lives is a far greater reward than any medal.
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u/rocky3rocky Oct 04 '24
It's such a unique opportunity to have your lifelong skill be exactly what's needed to save the day.
I bet there's plenty of Olympians would have liked to apply their sportskills to save people even if it cost them medals. Competition is a big motivator for what they do but so is love of the sport/athleticism itself no matter the purpose.
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u/rocky3rocky Oct 04 '24
Maybe the re-examined story of his life was he spent those years unknowingly training to be the hero that was needed that day and the Olympics was just a side-quest. None of us would have heard of this athlete from such a small country if he hadn't been part of this.
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u/ieatair Oct 04 '24
now this is a man we need to get worldwide recognition and lifetime societal benefits
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u/Excellent-Shovel-304 Oct 15 '24
People like this needs to be immortalized
Globally
This is how we shift minds to the right direction for all fellow human beings regardless of wherever soil we were born above
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u/0pt1mus_Pr1mus Oct 04 '24
It ended his career but gave 20 people the gift of life.. that guy is just a hero.
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u/da_collinoscopy Oct 04 '24
Honestly best way to end a career, everyone’s ends one day, and this is way more rad than “got old”
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u/genetic_patent Oct 04 '24
These kind of acts should be given a trust fund to live out the rest of their days.
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u/icze4r Oct 04 '24 edited Nov 02 '24
icky familiar aback smell skirt absorbed insurance important bored oil
This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact
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u/TT_NaRa0 Oct 04 '24
So it ended his Olympic career but started his career as an absolute fucking legend? Not a bad trade off
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u/kato42 Oct 04 '24
If this happened in 2016 instead, he could have a NY times bestselling book and be a motivational speaker with a $50k speaker fee
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u/kummer5peck Oct 04 '24
Found Aqua Man’s secret identity. Of course his cover was an Olympic swimmer.
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u/Hour-Distribution141 Oct 04 '24
That’s kind of serendipity if you think about it. he thought he was training his entire life for the Olympics when actuality he was training for that day. Who needs a gold medal when you could save 20 lives.
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u/Shot_Platypus4420 Oct 04 '24
Iron Man. In an interview he said that he was worried that during his last dive he pulled out a seat cushion instead of a person. But forgive me for being tedious: he is not an Olympic medalist. And we can call him Armenian by nationality, not by belonging to the country he played for, and then it is probably not very ethical.
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u/LtDannyGlover Oct 04 '24
Mr. Glass definitely sent that trolley over the edge to check this guy out.
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u/NM_Wolf90 Oct 04 '24
People were trapped in a sunken bus for several hours? Was the bus conveniently going to an oxygen tank convention?
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u/Somewhiteguy13 Oct 04 '24
I think they mean cap stoned his Olympic career. Unfortunate that he suffered injuries, but I can't imagine a better showcasing of the hard work, determination, and tremendous skill this man had.
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u/My_Dog_Just_Died Oct 04 '24
I think if I was trapped 80ft underwater for several hours I’d be dead…..
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u/Avante-Gardenerd Oct 04 '24
This is cool and all but I have seen this posted like 30 fucking times in the past month.
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u/Scary-Ad-5706 Oct 04 '24 edited Oct 04 '24
I am having trouble rationalizing and making the mental physics work on how a bus 33 feet underwater, will be a survivable environment for 20 people. Especially given he "Kicked a window in" to get into the bus.
Edit: Read wiki, fixed two portions to match wiki.
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u/Background-Active-50 Oct 04 '24
We're debating in our house. Should you stick close to him, incase you need rescuing. Or avoid him because he's a Jonah. My view is stick close
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u/Count_Rugens_Finger Oct 04 '24
COOL STORY BRO POST IT AGAIN I HAVEN'T SEEN THIS STORY IN ALMOST 12 HOURS I WAS GETTING ITCHY BAAAAHHHHH
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u/VersusCA Oct 04 '24
Kind of sad to label him as an Armenian Olympic swimmer when he in fact competed for the USSR.
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u/canigetahint Oct 04 '24
Went from being an Olympic contender to being an outright fucking legend. Thrice.
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u/TextHoliday9486 Oct 04 '24
This is what called using your talent at better place and at good time 🫡🫡🫡🫡🫡
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u/DCINTERNATIONAL Oct 04 '24
A true Hero of the Soviet Union. As such, some fact checking may be necessary.
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u/Designer_Solid4271 Oct 04 '24
If Timeless as a TV show was still around, this would make for a great episode...
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u/Key_Ingenuity8565 Oct 04 '24
«Save 20 people» Under water? Several hours? Really? How they don’t breath so long
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u/TarzanSawyer Oct 04 '24
Probably for the best that he stopped going to the Olympics, the other swimmers might get knocked out of water from the waves his balls would make.
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u/mantellaaurantiaca Oct 04 '24
Should be worth more than all gold medals in the world