Drone Operated by Pilot Saves Teen from Drowning at Beach in Dramatic Video: 'A Complicated Maneuver'

A “drone lifeguard” helped save a 14-year-old boy who was at risk of drowning in Spain.

While swimming in the water off the coast of Valencia this month, the boy got caught in a tide off a beach, according toReuters. In a moment captured on video, a drone dropped a life vest into the sea as the boy struggled to stay afloat.

Soon after the delivery, a physical lifeguard team arrived to rescue the boy from the waters.

“When we arrived what we saw was a kid that was in very bad shape, with almost no energy to keep floating, so I sent over the life vest,” Miguel Angel Pedrero, a drone pilot for the company told Reuters.

According toSky News, the boy, who was not publicly identified, was taken to a local hospital and sent home the next day.

The outlet reported that more than 30 General Drones pilots are working with lifeguards at 22 beaches in Spain.

“These extra seconds are vital in some cases and also allows the rescue teams to approach the person more calmly and cautiously,” Pedrero told Reuters while speaking about how beneficial drone pilots can be in rescue situations.

In a 2021blogpost, General Drones CEO Adrián Plazas detailed how the company’sAuxdron LFGdrone could help save swimmers in Spain.

“This exceptional aircraft works in coordination with the beach lifeguard team to optimize assistance times, prevention operations and now, with Artificial Intelligence, it counts bathers and controls capacity,” Plazas wrote.

He added: “Such a drone, in a country that earn[s] a living mainly off beach tourism, is a winning equation.”

source: people.com