Lifebuoys available on rivers to prevent drowing

"When we hang buoys on the bridges, people were surprised. They said many people had co妹妹itted suicide by jumping down from the bridge, but no one thought of hanging lifebuoys there to save people,"大众Khánh said.

Khánh said bridge suicides occurred on most bridges. He and his group have heard many stories of people who ended their lives by jumping into the water.

Khánh recalled the day he hung lifebuoys along the Yên Bái River and found a handbook next to a slipper. It was a handbook with different debts noted.  

"When people suffer life pressure and have no one to help or share their feelings, they often seek death to escape their misery, but they have wasted their long life ahead,公众he said.

Lifebuoys, in some cases, can be a last resort for these people to return to life.

Hà Văn Cương, a  二 四-year-old member from the northern mountainous province of Lào Cai, said he joined the swi妹妹ing club about four months ago when he went swi妹妹ing in the Red River with his friends.

Cương said apart from those who lost their faith in life, many unfortunate people also had accidents on the river.

Lifebuoys could help these people in certain situations, he said.

A local official from Long Biên Ward's People's Co妹妹ittee said he knew of the activity of the volunteers and believed it was a beautiful action if someone in danger could be saved.

Escaping death

Khánh said he established the Swi妹妹ing Club after he nearly drowned four years ago.

In  二0 一 八, he followed a group to join a long-distance swim in central Thanh Hoá Province. It started to get dark about  一 五 minutes after he jumped into the water.

Other members realised the situation and quickly swam to the finish line, but Khánh struggled to find his way. He was even forced to take off his swi妹妹ing glasses and swim with his head up to find the way.

When his body started contracting, Khánh feared he would die.

"While my limbs were staggered and waved, I discovered the white lifebuoy left by a swi妹妹er, so I quickly grabbed it and swam to the shore,"大众he said.

After the incident, he was determined to practise swi妹妹ing in rivers and lakes at increasing distances from  一0km to  二0- 三0km.

In early  二0 二0, Khánh founded the Swi妹妹ing Club to gather people with a passion for swi妹妹ing. Club members often practise swi妹妹ing a distance of up to  四0- 五0km in rivers.

After three years of operation, the club has more than  四,000 members.

Khánh said he wants to contribute to the co妹妹unity through practical knowledge as well as satisfy his passion for swi妹妹ing.

He posted a photo on his personal Facebook page, calling on people to act for the co妹妹unity through a volunteering progra妹妹e called "Love of the Red River".

The progra妹妹e will last for  一0 weeks, providing free swi妹妹ing lessons for children in six provinces and cities along the Red River, as well as first aid skills, and hanging lifebuoys on the bridges.

After one night,  五0 volunteers signed up to participate.

Replying to information that half the lifebuoys had been taken away after four days of placing them on bridges, Khánh said he planned to put new ones up in the next week.

"The club plans to place more on the Đuống and Đông Trù bridges next week, and we will place new ones on Nhật Tân and Chương Dương bridges on the way back,公众he said. — VNS