Belarusian who saved woman from canal receives oldest medal in the Netherlands

Status holder Dzmitry Viarbitski performed a heroic act on January 9. He didn’t think twice when he saw a car disappear into the Eindhoven canal. The Belarusian dove into the icy water, rescued the driver and pushed the car to the side. On Wednesday afternoon he received the oldest medal handed out in the Netherlands from Mayor Jeroen Dijsselbloem.

Is he a hero? Viarbitski does not yet fully understand the Dutch language and has a friend with him to translate, but he does answer in Dutch with a modest smile. “A little, yes a little hero.”

He is proud of his action. He would do it again. Dzmitry was on his way to the store when he saw the car disappear into the canal. After three minutes he had the woman, who had driven into the water due to a navigation error, on the side.

Excuse
Viarbitski, who lives in the asylum center near the site of the accident, was lured to the Eindhoven city hall on Wednesday afternoon with an excuse. Mayor Jeroen Dijsselbloem surprised him there with the hero’s medal.

In his speech, Dijsselbloem wondered where on earth Viarbitski had gotten the strength to push the car lying in the icy canal to the side all by himself. “That is really very special, almost unimaginable,” said the mayor.

Viarbitski himself doesn’t know where he got the strength from at that moment. In broken English he says, “My legs worked for three men.” He puffs out loud when he thinks about it. And switches to English: “My hands, too.”

Dzmitry previously talked about his heroic deed:

‘Very good resident’
The fire brigade has not yet contacted the Belarusian after his rescue operation made the news to offer him a job. He laughs at the question. “No, I have to learn Dutch first.” He is eager to get started.

Viarbitski has now received a residence permit and can therefore stay in the Netherlands. Mayor Dijsselbloem: “I believe we have a very good resident again.”