Brazilian Olympic kitesurfer Bruno Lobo rescues drowning woman

While gliding across the waves on his kiteboard, Brazilian Olympic kitesurfer Bruno Lobo spotted a woman struggling in the open sea and swooped in to save her life.

In an Instagram post on Jan 11, Dr Lobo, who is also an orthopaedic doctor specialising in knee surgery, said the incident occurred on the evening of Jan 10 at around 5.40pm local time in Brazil.

According to the post, he had wanted to test a new camera despite the cloudy weather and less-than-ideal wind conditions. After installing the camera on his kiteboard, he headed out to sea.

Without specifying his exact location, the 31-year-old athlete said in his Instagram post that he heard a cry for help shortly after setting off. Spotting a woman struggling in the water, he quickly manoeuvred his kiteboard towards her.

In his self-filmed video on Instagram, the woman is seen swimming towards Dr Lobo and clinging to his back as he steadies himself with his kite.

In his post, Dr Lobo said he tried to calm her down and encouraged her to hold onto him. Noticing her exhaustion, he used his kiteboarding equipment to guide them both safely to shore.

As they approached the shore, two men wearing lifeguard T-shirts ran to assist, lifting the woman out of the water. Once on land, the woman regained her composure and was able to walk, eventually hugging the athlete in gratitude.

Dr Lobo urged people to be cautious when venturing into unfamiliar waters, emphasising that strong currents in seas, rivers and other water bodies can be extremely dangerous.