On the Greek island of Kythera, crane operator Michalis Protopsaltis rose to fame after saving the lives of 80 migrants whose boat had been crushed by rocks the previous week.
Micheal Protopsaltis, Dimitris Protopsaltis and Panagiotis Protopsaltis went to the collision scene with his crane, unafraid of the night or the brisk winds. What he saw, he subsequently remarked, was unbelievable.
Numerous individuals were battling the waters to ascend the rocks and save themselves.
I observed individuals who had fallen into the water.
He said on Greek state television, ERT, "We were able to save eighty individuals, [but] if we had delayed a little longer, many more people would have died."
He observed, "people losing [their] footing and falling into the sea."
Protopsaltis arrived at the location with his crane and fastened a large bag with long straps for his building supplies. He let it go down the rocks.
Depending on the size of the wave, "one or two castaways would go inside the bag, and we would elevate the bag and bring them to the surface," Protopsaltis added.
Nine more migrants are still missing from the boat disaster on Wednesday night, and six have been declared deceased. According to Greek authorities, more than 90 passengers were on board the ship as it sailed from the Turkish coast to Italy the night before.
Protopsaltis earned the title of hero. Like other unsung heroes, he did not try to use his charitable gesture to get attention for himself in the media.
On Sunday, he received a congratulatory call from Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.
Mitsotakis congratulated and thanked him for his efforts, emphasizing that Greeks will continue saving human lives at risk by ruthless human trafficking networks.
