An Olympic kitesurfer heroically saved a teenage girl from drowning on the shore of a beach in Brazil.
Bruno Lobo, who represented Brazil at the 2024 Summer Games in Paris, was testing his camera while kitesurfing at Praia do Olho in São Luis, Maranhão, on Friday when he spotted 15-year-old Maria Duarte in distress.
Footage showed the 31-year-old turning around and heading towards Duarte, who was fighting to stay afloat in the choppy waters.
Lobo, who is also an orthopedic surgeon, left his board and swam toward Duarte, who grabbed him on his back.
He led them back to the board as the teen wrapped her arms around his neck.
Lobo then used his kite to take them to shore before a lifeguard approached.
Duarte was taken to the sand, where first responders administered first aid.
“I only did what needed to be done and what was within my reach!” Lobo said in a post on his Instagram account with the video.
Maria Duarte, 15, holds Olympic kite surfer Bruno Lobo after he saved her from drowning in the city of São Luis
Brazilian Olympic kite surfer Bruno Lobo said he was testing a new camera when he jumped into action
On Monday, Lobo and Duarte were reunited in a special ceremony.
The kitesurfer received the Alferes Moraes Souto Medal, the highest award awarded by the Maranhão Military Fire Brigade.
Duarte recalled praying that someone would save her from being swept away.
“At that moment I asked God and he was an angel in my life,” Duarte said in a video posted on Instagram by Maranhão Governor Carlos Brandão.
‘And I am very grateful to him. I didn’t know the sea or the challenge.
“The sea is treacherous and you cannot challenge it.”
Lobo explained that he was touched by the attention he received for saving Duarte.
“It was very overwhelming, this moment of saving a life through sport, and it’s definitely my biggest trophy and my biggest achievement,” Lobo said.
“At that moment I asked God and he was an angel in my life,” Duarte said of her savior
Maria Duarte (left) was reunited with Brazilian kitesurfer Bruno Lobo (right) during a special ceremony on Monday. Lobo received the Alferes Moraes Souto, the highest award of the Military Fire Brigade of Maranhão
Maria Duarte recalled struggling to stay afloat and praying to be saved
In addition to being the seventh kitesurfer in the world, Bruno Lobo is also an orthopedic surgeon
Brazilian Bruno Lobo competes in the men’s kiteboarding event at the 2024 Paris Olympics
‘To see Maria Eduardo here healthy and to be able to tell this story. God sent me there right then and there to save her life when she needed it most.”
Lobo lost to Italian kiteboarder Riccardo Pianosi in the semifinals of the 2024 Olympic Games and finished seventh overall.
It was the first time since the 1992 Olympics that Brazil failed to medal in the competition.
Lobo, currently ranked seventh in the world, won gold at the 2019 and 2023 Pan American Games and is a seven-time Brazilian Formula Kite champion.