Legendary Armenian swimmer's heroic feat to get film treatment

February 7, 2014 - 17:16 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - The feat of legendary Armenian swimmer Shavarsh Karapetyan will get a film treatment in Russia.

The bio, to be named "20 Lives" will chronicle the act of heroism of the swimmer who single-handedly saved 20 people out of a drowning bus. Logos Studio will be in charge of the production, RIA Novosti reported.

Synopsys: On a wet September morning the 17-time fin swimmer world champion, Shavarsh, was on his morning run along the shore of a lake when he saw a trolleybus going at full-speed crash off a bridge into the lake. The ripples closed in on the people who were still alive in less than a minute. 92 people in the trolleybus sank to the bottom. The giant vehicle sank ten meters deep.

Not even taking a second to think about it, Shavarsh threw himself into the icy, troubled water. He dove for twenty minutes and brought person after person to the surface.

The unbelievable incident of saving those people set back the grandiose plans of this talented athlete-swimmer to reach his athletic dreams. He ended up in intensive care with massive blood infection because of the high amount of cuts from glass, and double inflamed lungs. For 45 days doctors fought for his life. Despite leaving the hospital with injured lungs, legs, and an allergy to water, Shavarsh returned to elite sports to set his 11th world record.

This is an incredible story of the human spirit, capable of the impossible. It’s a story about a strong person…a hero, giving a second chance to twenty people. The reward for his courageous spirit and bravery was life…that of those he saved and his own.