Two Polish police officers rescued a drowning 29-year-old in Croatia

Officers Marcin Czyż and Piotr Filar, stationed in Croatian sea town of Makarska as part of "Place of Safe Tourism" initiative, were before their duty hours on July 18 when they spotted a man drowning in the water.

Together with my colleague we decided to go to the beach and swim before duty. As we were approaching the beach, we saw a woman trying to haul a man who was drowning, disappearing beneath the water surface every now and then. The woman was waving and screaming for help in Croatian," Czyż told tvn24.pl.

"We knew there were no rescuers at the beach at the time as it was too early. Not thinking twice, we took an inflatable SUP board from random beachgoers and rushed towards this couple to help them," the officer said, adding that the water in the spot where the man was drowning was approximately 6 meters deep.

"The man was twisting in pain. You could see his left shoulder was in an unnatural position. He just couldn't swim anymore," said Officer Marcin Czyż. He added the woman tried to haul the man to the shore, but she was not strong enough. Using the borrowed inflatable board, the Polish policemen transported the distressed man to the beach.

"We did not have any medical equiment on us so we immobilized the man's shoulder using his shirt," Offcer Czyż continued. The two officers then helped the man to move to a nearby hotel, where he received medical assistance.

Officer Czyż also told tvn24.pl that he and his colleague had met the rescued man later that same day. "He recognized us, approached us, and thanked us. He told us he had already struggled with the shoulder in the past, and that he would have undergo a serious surgery in the near future."

"Polish policemen great heroes of Makarska" - wrote "Jutarnji List", a local news portal.

Officers Czyż and Filar are serving in Croatia as part of the "Place of Safe Tourism" initiative. A total of 12 officer from Poland are serving in Croatian towns to help tourists in the summer period starting on July 2 until August 31.

"We carry out duties together with police officers from Croatia, but also other countries like Bosnia, South Korea, or the United States," Marcin Czyz explained.

The officer added that, apart from assisting the Croatian police, the Polish policemen were there to offer any help to Polish citizens, for instance, serving as translators. "We really carry out very diverse duties. We take part in domestic interventions, help in collisions and road accidents, we intervene in cases of public order violations at the beach. We even helped to find accomodation for Polish tourists who arrived in Makarska late at night," he said.