Awards ceremony 2024

A Vaudoise did not hesitate to jump into the icy Arve to rescue a couple in danger.

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On May 8, 2023, in Geneva, Maya Chollet, a journalist from RTS, received a distress call and immediately responded. While waiting for emergency services to arrive, she plunged into the water at eight degrees Celsius to save the victims, despite the strong current. With the help of two men, they managed to reach the couple on the bank. This heroic act also serves as a reminder that in mountains, accidents can happen at any time, and even skilled climbers can find themselves in life-threatening situations.

A motorist saves a seriously injured motorcyclist from bleeding to death.

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On May 29, 2023, a motorcyclist crashed heavily on the Gurnigel Pass and was left bleeding in the oncoming lane. Alfred Heer, who happened to be driving by, noticed that no one was providing first aid. He quickly retrieved a tether from his car, tied off the injured leg, and applied pressure to the groin to stop the bleeding. This most likely prevented the motorcyclist from bleeding to death until the REGA arrived.

A 12-year-old boy rescues an unconscious toddler after a swimming accident.

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On Saturday afternoon, June 17, 2023, 12-year-old Reylin was playing with his soccer club at the Olten swimming pool and was having fun with his friends. Alone for a moment near the slides, he noticed a 3-year-old boy lying motionless in the water. He saw that the boy was underwater with his eyes open. The water reached up to Reylin's belly button, so he quickly lifted the small boy out of the water with both arms and carried him to the edge of the pool. He called for help, and several people, including the lifeguard, rushed over and began administering first aid to the unconscious young victim. The toddler was airlifted by REGA to Basel University Hospital, where he tragically died four days later.

A carpenter saved the life of a paragliding accident victim.

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On Friday, May 5, 2023, during a paragliding competition, Pierre Oberson's acquaintance crashed onto a railway line near Grand Bois, close to Vallorbe. As he rushed to help him, he heard an approaching train. Pierre Oberson pulled his companion by his harness from the ballast just seconds before the train arrived, risking his own life. The rescuer then protected the injured person's head from the blasts of the passing wagons, which passed within a meter of them.

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The Vaud police report confirmed that “undoubtedly, Pierre Oberson saved the life of the injured paragliding contestant.“

“I jumped into the water without thinking.”

 

Nicola, a 23-year-old Swiss-Italian dual citizen and assistant cook from Rorschach, was just taking a normal walk with his dog by the lake.
It's September 4, 2023. When Nicola suddenly becomes aware of a woman's cries for help, he notices an elderly man in danger of drowning. With a quick-witted expression, he drops everything and jumps fully clothed into the water to rescue the victim from 25 meters from the shore. "I put my phone away and jumped straight into the lake," Nicola later told the press. He takes the man in his arms and swims back to shore with the completely exhausted victim.
In his homeland of Apulia, Nicola was celebrated as a hero. 20min also praised him: "Nicola from Anzano, the young hero of the lake."

Nicola did everything right. He needed strength and endurance to keep a nearly lifeless body afloat and swim to shore.

A boy risks his own life while saving his younger sister from drowning.

 

Dylan is the brother of his five-year-younger sister Sophia. On June 2, 2023, she was playing in the playground of the Bahnhofschule school in Therwil, Canton of Basel-Landschaft. Dylan picked her up for a family event. Upon arriving, he saw his sister and her boyfriend stark naked in the nearby Marchbach stream, where the two children were being threatened with water pistols and verbally assaulted by three slightly older boys, and filmed on cell phones.
Sophia screams that she can't swim, but this doesn't stop the three perpetrators from distancing themselves from the children. Dylan continues to receive threats after deleting the video from one of the boys' phones. He then tried to visit the three boys at home to inform their parents. He was threatened again that an older boy would take revenge on him.

Dylan put himself in great danger (his sister drowning, being beaten up himself) to save Sophia.

Gang fight – injured young man rushes to help his colleague.

 

Tübach SG, regional sports and recreation facility Kellen Image: Municipality of Tübach
The municipality of Tübach is located in the Rorschach constituency and lies south of the municipality of Horn, Thurgau. The municipality has undergone significant development since the Second World War. For example, it boasts the modern Kellen sports facility.
In the early evening of September 17, 2022, 17-year-old Lemuel Ernst was beaten unconscious by a group of around ten young adults. When he regained consciousness, he managed to break free from the gang with great force. The gang then attacked Lemuel's colleagues, also assaulting him with punches and kicks to the head.

Although he's bleeding and still feeling very dizzy, Lemuel returns to help his colleague, not by hitting him, but by trying to pull the thugs away from him. He receives more blows. Only when another person arrives and shouts that they've called the police does the gang of thugs let go of the two and flee.