Around this time in 2012, a teacher in Germany literally kept a student’s head above water when the child fell into an abandoned mine shaft.
According to the German newspaper The Daily, a kindergarten class was out on a field trip in the Osterwald forest when a three year old student came across a shaft that had been built to bring light into a coal mine.
Neither the mine nor the shafts had been used in a long time, so long that it wasn’t even clear where the shafts were.
The wooden planks that were supposed to block off access had deteriorated.
And so, somehow, this child ended up falling into the shaft.
Koenig didn’t know what was down there, but decided to go in right after the youngster while the other teachers called for help.
In one sense, they were fortunate in that they ended up in water about 25 meters down, rather than just hitting the bottom of the shaft.
They also got some help from the tree roots that had been growing in the space.
But the water was extremely cold, around 40° Fahrenheit, so the longer they were in the water, the more danger they were in.
Koenig set herself up on a ledge.
Then she held the three year old’s head above water and kept him close enough so that her body heat could keep him from getting too cold.
They were down there for more than an hour, before rescuers arrived and brought them back up.
Both the three year old and his teacher were ok; the rescue teams said later that Koenig had almost certainly saved the child’s life by risking her own.
Germany’s chancellor was among those who hailed Koenig was a hero.
About the only person who felt differently was Ina Koenig, who reportedly declined most media interviews and told reporters only that “I am not a hero. I did what any human being would do.”
Starting tomorrow in Oklahoma, it’s the McLoud Blackberry Festival.
The event celebrates McLoud’s history with blackberry growing, especially the time in 1949 when the local Chamber of Commerce sent some berries to President Harry Truman.
They say he wrote back to say McLoud was the Blackberry Capital of the World.
Teacher jumps down mineshaft to save boy (The Local)
The McLoud Blackberry Festival
