Bravery in the Rain: Teachers Dive into Flood to Save Man’s Life

South Korea was shaken by heavy rains last week that claimed at least 19 lives, yet amid the tragedy emerged stories of everyday heroes who risked their lives to save others.

The town of Cheongdo in North Gyeongsang Province took the brunt of the downpour, which left vehicles underwater, flooded roads, and even triggered landslides. At the peak of the torrential rains on Thursday, two teachers from Cheongdo High School dove into a swollen stream to rescue a man in his 60s.

Park Je-gyu and Kim Dong-han were escorting their students home around 5:10 p.m. when they noticed a man being swept away by the current in Beomgokcheon. They pursued him and eventually found him clinging to a rock on the opposite bank. Without hesitation, they braved the rushing waters to reach him.

The rescued man, a construction worker, had reportedly fallen into the stream and was exhausted after being carried approximately 100 meters downstream. Had it not been for the teachers’ swift intervention, he might have been swept into the perilous rapids of the larger and faster Cheondocheon just meters away.

Auto repair workers rescue an elderly man

Also on Thursday, around 5 p.m., streets in Dong-gu, Gwangju, were inundated after a nearby stream overflowed. Choi Seung-il, a 54-year-old owner of an auto repair shop, noticed an elderly man whose legs had become trapped in a manhole.

Choi waded through the flooded streets to help, but the man’s legs were caught in a structure inside the manhole. He kept the man’s head above water while directing his staff to bring a wooden board to block the current.

As Choi and his team worked to free the man, a car began floating down the flooded road toward them. His quick-thinking employees managed to block the vehicle, and eventually, they succeeded in freeing the man’s legs from the manhole.

“When the car was drifting toward me, I thought I was going to die. But I couldn’t just leave the elderly man behind,” Choi recalled. “I know it was a risky move, yet I’m deeply grateful to my staff for their help in the rescue.”

The elderly man was promptly transported to a hospital by emergency responders, and the following day, his family visited Choi to express their gratitude in person.

Gas station employees rescue a family trapped in mud

The torrential rains also triggered landslides, one of which nearly claimed an entire family’s life in Sancheong, South Gyeongsang Province. The family was traveling by car when a landslide from a nearby mountain struck and buried their vehicle on Saturday morning.

“I heard banging on the car door and cries for help. We saw people trapped inside the vehicle,” said Park Jin-ju, an employee at a nearby gas station. Together with her colleague Yu Jun-hee, she grabbed shovels and hammers to rescue the family, assisted by a passerby.

After a grueling effort lasting about 10 minutes, they successfully rescued the family of four, which included two boys—one in elementary school and the other in middle school.