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Grandma, 81 Survives After Being Swept 12 Miles Down River
A 81-year-old grandma who slipped and fell into Thailand’s Chao Phraya River has been found alive after travelling 12 miles downstream for almost 4 hours.
Grandma Ree, of Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya district, tumbled into the river around 3am on Tuesday morning and quickly swept away in the fast moving current.
Around 7am a fish farmer saw her in the river holding onto a floating fish-pen, in Bang Pa-in district about 20km down river from where she toppled into the river.
According to a local administrator, the fish farmer pulled her safely to shore. Despite falling in the river, the 81-year-old grandma still had the blanket she had been holding when she was wearing a wraparound skirt.
After a thorough health check-up, Ms Ree was taken home, seemingly unharmed.
She was indeed fortunate, according to the fish farmer. When she fell in the river, the current was very strong, and it was already late at night. It took the 81-year-old four hours to travel 12 miles downstream, where he was found.
Although he said Grandma Ree knew how to swim, he could not express how incredible the incident was.
Under the Ayuthaya bridge, where the Chao Phraya and Pasak rivers meet, she was carried down the river by whirlpools in front of Wat Sanamchai, in Bang Kraba-Wat Phananchoeng.
In a Daily News report, the elderly woman said she went swimming in the river after leaving her daughter’s house. She floated down the river until she reached Bang Pa-in.
However, it was reported in other Thai news reports that the grandma slipped and fell in. Her family and neighbours were relieved to hear she survived her ordeal.
Ayutthaya’s deputy governor Nutchanart Pratheeptheeranan was due to visit her at her family home on Thursday.
Source: Bangkok Post
