Delivery driver saves man from drowning, then vanishes; family finds him three months later
For several months, Hamza did not know whether Yann, a father of a family whom he had pulled from a swimming pool near Toulouse, had survived. The 25-year-old delivery driver had left the scene when emergency services arrived. Yann’s family eventually tracked him down.
On Saturday, June 27, at around 6:20 p.m., Yann, 56, went to unplug his swimming pool pump in Labarthe-sur-Lèze, in Haute-Garonne. He received an electric shock and fell into the water. His partner, Stéphanie, rushed over but could not pull him out of the pool. Just then, a delivery driver arriving with a parcel rang the doorbell, La Dépêche du Midi reports.
Hamza was not even supposed to be there. He was off that day, but was called in at the last minute to make deliveries. Alerted by Stéphanie, he rushed into the garden and pulled Yann out of the water by his clothes. He began CPR, guided over the phone by emergency services. Stéphanie also helped with the resuscitation. Hamza’s only experience of these procedures was training he had received in middle school.
Months without knowing what had happened to him
When the firefighters arrived, the young man got back on the road: his vehicle was obstructing traffic. He left trembling, not knowing whether his efforts had been enough. He could no longer remember the address and had no number to call for an update.
Yann, meanwhile, was placed in a coma. He woke up after about 72 hours and gradually regained his abilities, while continuing to receive medical care. Hamza knew nothing about his recovery.
On September 24, Diane, Yann’s sister, posted an appeal on social media to find the delivery driver. The family also contacted Amazon. An employee, Samira, eventually identified Hamza and helped the two men get in touch.
They met in October, more than three months after the accident. “I feel relieved now,” the young man told La Dépêche du Midi. Yann, for his part, has rediscovered his enjoyment of artistic pursuits, according to his sister.
In Yann’s partner’s phone, Hamza’s number now has a nickname: “The Saviour,” Le Parisien reports.
