“Any of you who’ve had to deal with free-roaming swans know how much of a BOSS this lady is.”
(Picture: Photo courtesy of @MendelsonImages/Twitter)An elderly woman in Berlin, Germany, saved a swan on a bridge - with her bare hands.
On Monday, Marcy Mendelson, a documentary filmmaker and fine art photographer, took to social media to post the video of the act of courage from the woman who got the swan back to where it needed to be.
In the video, you see someone walking along the Admiral Brücke bridge when an older woman walks up beside the swan, that seems a bit lost.
Then in an instant, the older woman gabs at the swan’s wings and a leg to hold it steady, as it seemed taken aback by the interaction.
Soon after, the woman, still holding the swan, hoists it up and over the bridge and lets it go back into the water.
Sign up to our new free Indy100 weekly newsletter
As the elderly woman began to walk away from the scene, some onlookers gathered around, presumably to see if the swan was OK, which it was.
The swan flapped its wings and carried on floating across the water.
A woman performing heroics without hesitation. She just got it done and went on her way. Magnificent. https://t.co/ZsRCXg7kNt
— Nnedi Okorafor, PhD (@Nnedi) January 3, 2022
People took to comments of the Twitter video to commend the heroism.
“Never, EVER underestimate grannies in improbably big coats. They’re hiding superpowers under all that insulation,” someone wrote.
“Any of you who’ve had to deal with free-roaming swans know how much of a BOSS this lady is,” another added.
A third wrote: “A woman performing heroics without hesitation. She just got it done and went on her way. Magnificent.”
Mendelson also took to her Instagram to address the situation and upload two more clips and a photo.
She noted that the elderly lady appears “in inclement weather to sit by the bridge & sell newspapers” and got up from her stool to save the adolescent swan from its predicament.
Mendelson further noted that the swan “miscalculated its landing & found itself trapped on #admiralbrücke unable to figure out how to return to the water.”
But with the help of the heroic woman, the swan found its way home.
“As I thanked her, she [elderly woman] smiled a near toothless smile with the brightest blue eyes I’ve ever seen,” Mendelson noted.
Swans are reportedly dangerous birds that can injure people. According to the Bird Watching United States of America website, swans might become aggressive if another animal or human comes near their nest.
They might hiss and flap their wings repeatedly when it happens.
The website also notes that the swans are defensive more than aggressive and will attack if they feel that something threatens their young or nesting area.
