"Get on quickly!"... Police Officer Saves Grandmother Unable to Evacuate from Flooding

Sergeant Goe Jae-jung Who Saved an Octogenarian

A story has been shared about a police officer who rescued an elderly woman with mobility difficulties by carrying her on his back from a village flooded by heavy rain.

According to JTBC on the 20th, the entire village in Icheon-si, Gyeonggi-do was submerged after heavy rain fell in the early morning of the 15th. At that time, the rainwater rose up to thigh level due to the downpour. A police officer searching the village found an elderly woman in her 80s who was alone at home, and carried her on his back to evacuate her.

On the 15th, when heavy rain fell, Grandma Choi Young-bun was carried and rescued by Sergeant Ko Jae-joong of the Janghowon Police Substation in a village in Icheon-si, Gyeonggi-do. [Image provided by Gyeonggi Nambu Police Agency]

In the rescue video at the time, Ko Jae-jung, a police inspector at Janghowon Police Substation of Icheon Police Station, visited several houses directly by knocking on doors and looking through windows. During this process, Inspector Ko found Mrs. Choi Young-boon, who could not hear well and missed the evacuation broadcast.

Inspector Ko shouted to Mrs. Choi, "You need to go outside. I am a police officer," and "The water is overflowing now, so you need to evacuate." He then told her to get on his back and offered his back. After safely evacuating her, Inspector Ko continued to patrol the village for more than 40 minutes.

Inspector Ko said, "My parents also live alone in the countryside," and "I just wanted to carry her out and make sure she survived no matter what."

Mrs. Choi said, "He carried me and saved me, so I am thankful and sorry," and "If he hadn't done that, I don't know what I would have done alone." Inspector Ko replied, "Thank you for being safe."

Meanwhile, according to the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters, as of 6 a.m. on the 20th, 542 houses were flooded and 125 houses were damaged due to the heavy rain. Farmland covering 32,894.5 hectares, more than half the size of Seoul, was submerged. There were 46 deaths and 4 missing persons.