The word ‘hero’ is often heard when football players score a decisive goal during a match – but Dinis Dias, midfielder for Vitória de Guimarães, was labelled just that when he saved two Spanish youngsters from drowning in the Minho River.
While on a jog last Friday (June 27) along the Spanish margin of the Minho River in Salvaterra – near the area of Monção, where he is on holidays – the player became aware of the young men struggling to stay afloat in the river.
“They were panicking as they struggled to swim. I acted instinctively and just jumped in to help them,” Dinis, 24, told Jornal de Notícias.
“One of them didn’t know how to swim and the other was struggling to stay afloat. I actually feared for my own life as it was quite a task to rescue them both.”
Despite this, he managed to bring them both ashore.
But the drama continued when they reached the riverbank and the footballer noticed the young man who didn’t know how to swim wasn’t breathing and turning purple.
But quick-thinking Dias didn’t hesitate – he applied pressure on his chest and performed mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. “And he was breathing again…” a relieved Dias told the newspaper.
Although it was not explained how the two youngsters ended up fighting for their lives in the river, both are reported to be recovering well from the incident.
Dinis Dias, however, refuses to be labelled a “hero”. “I was at the right place at the right time. I did what anybody would have done in my place,” he said.
