"It was pretty close"

Stroller rescues powerless senior citizen from stream

Daniela Weinberger with her dog "Susi", who had already sensed danger. The senior citizen had fallen into this stream.

(Bild: Krone KREATIV/TEAM FOTOKERSCHI.AT,zVg,)

An 82-year-old man from Linz was lying completely powerless in a stream on Thursday, with his head half under water, when Daniela Weinberger (46) discovered him on a walk, reacted immediately and probably saved the senior's life. What annoyed Weinberger was that she tried to stop several cars, but they all drove on...

"I think it was pretty close" - Daniela Weinberger from Pichling suddenly became a lifesaver on Thursday. The 46-year-old was walking her dog "Susi" along the Aumühlbach stream. The four-legged friend was the first to sense that something was wrong.

"My dog was tense, quite stiff and had his ears up," says Weinberger, who then heard a low moaning noise, but initially thought it was coming from the golf course next door, where athletes make noises. But then the attentive Pichling woman discovered walking sticks lying next to the path and finally spotted "an elderly man lying on his side in the stream."

The embankment is steep
The embankment in this area of the Auhirschgasse bridge is steep and densely overgrown. "I shouted to him that I would get help," Weinberger continues. "I wouldn't have been able to walk down the embankment myself because I'm disabled and need a crutch," says the 46-year-old. So the rescuer called the police and then immediately called her husband, who lives nearby.

"Nobody stopped"
In order to rescue the 82-year-old man from Linz who had fallen - he was already at the end of his tether and his head kept sinking into the water - Weinberger tried to stop a few cars. "But unfortunately they all drove on to the golf course. I waved my crutch, but nobody stopped. I was very desperate," says the 46-year-old.

She kept calling out to the senior citizen lying in the water to hold on, to mobilize his strength. Then Weinberger managed to flag down a cyclist who was willing to help. He and Weinberger's husband, who had arrived, were able to carry the 82-year-old out of the stream and up the embankment.

82-year-old in hospital
Once the ambulance and police had arrived, they took over the care of the senior citizen. He was taken to the Sisters of Mercy hospital. He probably owes his life to Daniela Weinberger, who did not hesitate to help while others were speeding past in their cars.