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/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.

10

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

39

u/Tea_master_666 Oct 04 '24

Unless you are superhero. I am telling you man. He is a superhero.

26

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.

10

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

3

u/DryPersonality Oct 04 '24

How common was laminated glass in 1976

7

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

7

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.

4

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.

3

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. 

1

u/YouStopAngulimala Oct 04 '24

Pretty obviously a leg press vs chun li thing right?

1

u/Blick Oct 04 '24

Got the water pressure working with you from the outside

1

u/deezee72 Oct 05 '24

Not possible for flimsy mortals like you or I, but clearly possible for a superhero like Shavarsh