Senegalese Immigrant Saves Stranger, 72, From Drowning In Spanish River

WARNING: CONTAINS CONTENT SOME READERS MAY FIND DISTRESSING

A Senegalese immigrant jumped into the River Nervion in Bilbao, Spain, to help save a 72-year-old man. Watch the heroic rescue below:

Mouhammad Fada Diouf, 26, managed to keep the stranger afloat for 15 minutes after leaping in to save him on Sunday 20 June.

He began to struggle himself after his strength began to dwindle, which was when two of his friends jumped in to help, along with a plainclothes police officer.

Eventually, a nearby boat was able to rescue them all.

Diouf told Reuters he had been standing near the Nervion with friends when they saw the elderly man lose his balance on Ribera Bridge.

The unnamed man had reportedly been feeling unwell and leaned on a railing to steady himself, before fainting and falling into the water.

TikTok/@serignekaratalibeboromd0

Diouf recalled: "A lot of people were standing there and recording, and nobody was able to help him.

"He was in a bad situation so I decided to save him, to help him, because I know how to swim I knew that I could do it."

This isn't even the first time Diouf has rescued someone from the River Nervion. Back in September he spotted that a young woman had fallen into the river in the early hours of the morning and he jumped in and saved her.

Diouf came to Spain four years ago and makes a living weaving dreadlocks, among other odd jobs.

He has now gone viral after video footage of the rescue was shared on TikTok, where it racked up hundreds of thousands of views.

According to Reuters, a request was opened in Change.org to reward his courageous act with legal papers to stay in Spain.

Diouf continued: "A lot of them called me and said 'we love what you did, you are a superhero, nothing more'."

Professional basketball team Bilbao Basket, a migrant integration programme that Diouf is part of, praised him for his 'heroic act', saying on Twitter: "He did not hesitate to jump into the estuary to save the life of a man who fell unconscious.

"You are a great example of values. You are what we want to be."

Serigne Sene, another of the rescuers, told Spanish television station La Sexta: "People said this man was dying in front of me.

"I saw that I could help him so I had to help."

The 72-year-old man was taken to hospital and was in stable condition.

Topics: Viral, World News, News, Spain, Rescue, TikTok

Jess Hardiman

Jess is a journalist at LADbible who graduated from Manchester University with a degree in Film Studies, English Language and Linguistics - indecisiveness at its finest, right there. She also works for FOODbible and its sister page Seitanists, which are both a safe haven for her to channel a love for homemade pasta, fennel and everything else in between. You can contact Jess at [email protected].

@Jess_Hardiman