Lieutenant Rahul Dalal of the Indian Navy was at Vypin beach, for sight-seeing along with his wife on 05 April 2019. At about 1610 hrs the officer noticed a person struggling in water, was unable to swim and trying to shout for help. A crowd had gathered, but was not able to help the victim. Lieutenant Dalal responded immediately and went to the rescue of the drowning man. It took him only a few minutes to reach the victim but almost 20 to 25 minutes to bring him back to the shore, despite being a good swimmer as the under-current was strong. The officer also had to deal with the desperate and panicked victim who was pulling him down, putting both their lives in danger.
The officer calmed the victim and made him hold onto his shoulders, after which he started swimming towards the beach. Lt Dalal mustered all his strength and managed to reach the shore with help of some locals. The victim, however, was not breathing and was unconscious. When his mouth was opened, it was found that some plants were choking his air passage. Lt Dalal cleared the passage and administered Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation, whereupon the victim was revived. In the meantime, the police was informed and the victim was taken to a Government hospital from where he was discharged after recuperation. The victim has been identified as Mr Dileep Kumar from Aurangabad.
