Grizzlies' Marc Gasol Helped Rescue Migrant Woman From Drowning in Mediterranean
Grizzlies center Marc Gasol is spending some time this summer volunteering with Proactiva Open Arms and helped participate in a rescue operation in the Mediterranean Sea.
On Sunday, he helped rescue a migrant woman from Cameroon who was clinging to a piece of wood for 48 hours after surviving a shipwreck. They also recovered two bodies, including that of a toddler.
"There were pieces of wood and clothes floating in the water," Gasol told The Guardian. "Then there was that woman, with her elbows resting on a wooden beam. Her eyes were lost in the void. She was weak and in shock. She had been clinging to that piece of wood with her last bit of strength and had remained that way for 48 hours. I thought of this woman, of her strength. And I felt anger."
Gasol later tweeted about the rescue.
Proactiva Open Arms is a Spanish nonprofit search and rescue organization.
The United Nations estimates that 1,410 people have died this year in the Mediterranean.
