Italian volunteer rescuers save swimmers in separate incidents

Volunteer groups affiliated with the Italian National Rescue Society continue to intervene in emergencies along the country's coasts and waterways. In Portonovo on the Adriatic coast, team leader Edoardo Rubini, who has coordinated the local volunteers for over a decade, reported that his crew performed around 40‑50 rescues this summer, including lifting a 20‑year‑old woman who lost consciousness on a steep trail and transporting her to an ambulance.

Further inland, 84‑year‑old former rescue instructor Ettore, a longtime resident of Turbigo in Lombardy, jumped into the Naviglio Grande after spotting two youths struggling in the water. He pulled both to safety, drawing public thanks from the mayor and reinforcing a reminder that swimming is prohibited in the canal because of hidden currents and hazards.