Ben Madilynn
A 28-YEAR-OLD man perished while attempting to save his 15-year-old sister who was swimming inside a cave in Antequera, Bohol, on Friday, June 28, 2024.
According to Jacinto Quimson of the Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (MDRRMO), the girl went swimming in Tubang Spring with her two male friends, ages 16 and 18, when they decided to enter the cave, where the spring drew its water supply, through a tiny opening.
Even though the girl could swim, she was terrified to go out of the cave for fear that she would drown.
It was around 6 p.m. when rescue personnel arrived and pointed their flashlight inside the cave.
This prompted the two boys to emerge from the cave, leaving the girl inside.
The rescue personnel called the municipality’s fire department and the coast guard for assistance as well as expert divers in Tagbilaran City because they lacked rescue equipment.
They also cordoned the area.
But since the experienced divers had not yet arrived, the girl’s brother offered to enter the cave and do the rescue.
He then swam in the direction of the cave with a rope tied around his body to make it easy to pull him in the event of an emergency.
When the rope stopped moving after about 12 minutes, the rescue workers started to worry.
They then pulled the rope and saw the girl’s brother already unconscious.
The victim was brought to the nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
The girl was finally rescued around 1 a.m. of the following day, Saturday, when the experts divers arrived.
The divers had to widen the narrow opening so they could get into the cave with their oxygen tanks on.
The girl was hesitant the go with the rescuers at first, but when her mother begged her to go home using a megaphone, she eventually agreed.
The girl underwent a stress debriefing after being saved. (AYB, TPT)
