A man used a fishing pole to rescue an 11-year-old floating away on ice in Ukraine
- A man in Kyiv, Ukraine, used his fishing pole to save a boy on a piece of floating ice in a river.
- Thanks to the fisherman's accurate cast, the boy grabbed onto the fishing line and was reeled in.
- The boy made it safely back to the river bank without getting wet.
Using some ingenuity and a fishing pole, a man saved an 11-year-old boy who was stuck on a floating piece of ice in the Desenka River in Kyiv, Ukraine.
On Sunday, the fisherman, Richard Gorda, saw the boy in need of help and cast out his fishing rod equipped with a weight, according to Reuters.
Gorda accurately cast the fishing line to the boy on his first attempt, and the boy was able to grab onto the line. Gorda proceeded to reel him back to safety.
In a translation shown in a Reuters video, Gorda can be heading saying: "Don't be afraid. Don't turn around. Look at me, look at me."
According to Ukraine's Independent Information Agency of News (UNIAN), the 11-year-old who was stuck on the piece of ice didn't know how to swim.
The boy was reeled in slowly and successfully, and he was able to step off the floating ice and onto the river bank without getting any part of his body wet, per Reuters.
According to Reuters, air temperatures were around 32 degrees Fahrenheit in Kyiv on Sunday.
If the boy had fallen into the water or attempted to swim back to shore, the river's temperature that day would have shocked him and potentially caused him to drown, according to the National Center for Cold Water Safety, which states that water temperatures below 40 degrees Fahrenheit are "painfully cold."
Gorda told UNIAN that he didn't want to be called a hero for his actions and that he "turned out to be in the right place and at the right moment."
According to Reuters, once Gorda pulled the boy in safely, he said: "It is over now. But you deserve to get a spanking."