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Retired Armenian finswimmer Shavarsh Karapetyan, best known for saving the lives of 20 people in a 1976 incident in Yerevan celebrates his birthday anniversary on May 19. Karapetyan is a Merited Master of Sports of the USSR, 11-time World record-breaker, 17 times world champion, 13 times European champion and 7 times Soviet champion. 

Karapetyan however became well known in the former USSR for his heroic actions of saving peoples' lives from a sinking trolleybus which had gone out of control and fallen from a dam wall.

The incident took place in 1976 as he was doing his usual run along the dam in Yerevan, when a large trolleybus carrying 92 passengers lost control and flew off the road into the freezing water. During the impact, most of the passengers fell unconscious – the bus sank approximately 10 meters deep. Without a second of hesitation, Shavarsh leaped into the freezing water to rescue people. Diving to the depth of 10 meters, Shavarsh used his feet to break the back window of the trolleybus. One by one, he saved 20 peoples’ lives (he actually pulled out more then 20, but not everyone made it). He spent nearly 20 minutes in the frigid water and accomplished 30 dives down to the wreckage. His brother – Kamo Karapetyan – also a swimmer, took care of the injured as Shavarsh brought them up to the surface.

After his 30th dive, Shavarsh lost consciousness. This courageous act has cost him dearly; he incurred heavy 2-sided pneumonia and blood contamination from the polluted water. Doctors were unsure if Shavarsh would ever recover. His life was hanging by a thread while he stayed unconscious for 46 days. Shavarsh finally recovered, but his professional career was at an end.