Syrian lifeguard helps save others in peril on the Greek coast

UNHCR
Among the rescuers who converged on the Greek coastal resort of Mati in July as hundreds fled deadly wildfires was a 23-year-old Syrian refugee, himself saved from a watery grave last year.
Obada “Ibo” Al-Nassar trained as a lifeguard after arriving in Greece and is a volunteer with the Lifeguard Hellas (LH) organization, which joined the operation that began when terrified civilians rushed headlong on to the beaches or into the water.
LH lifeguards were among the first on the scene on the day of the fire, July 23, when hundreds were ferried to safety in other parts of the mainland. In the following days, the LH team, including Ibo, continued the offshore search for the missing and dead.
“Ibo was involved in the Mati operation. He was an active member,” says Spiros Mitritsakis, who runs LH with his wife Mania Bikof. “He’s an exceptional lifeguard,” adds the veteran.
As for Ibo, he says he is glad to be doing something constructive with people that have come to be like a family.
He is probably the only Syrian lifeguard in Greece, teaching people to master the sea and rescuing those in difficulty.
When he crossed to Lesvos more than a year ago, it was only the intervention of a naval ship that saved him when his dinghy began breaking up.
After arriving, Ibo was taken to the Moria Reception and Identification Centre. “This was the worst. It was hell,” he recalls. However, he soon made friends outside the site with some foreign lifeguards who had come to help Greece. They aroused his interest in their work.
Through them he met Spiros and became a lifeguard. The LH mainly works along the coast off Athens and relies on donations. In late 2015, it deployed a team of volunteers on Lesvos until June this year.
Based in an IKEA housing unit provided by UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, the round-the-clock operation helped rescue thousands in their stretch of coast.