216 centimeters are a boon to Alex Len on the field, but also outside it as he found his friend Jay Johnson on 25 April in the Dominican Republic. Both were on vacation in the Caribbean country with Serhii Vysotskyi, a close friend of Phoenix Suns player, and Ricardo Dickerson, director of the charitable foundation of the Ukrainian power forward, when tragedy by almost caught them. That fateful day, Johnson had only intended to get your feet wet on the shore. The rain and wind that whipped Punta Cana were already about to happen a bad play Vysotskyi so Len warned: "Be careful." But Jay went on.
The cold water made him jump a wave. Then a second. But to get the third, he felt the sand beneath your feet in the fall and turn around, he realized that he was 40 meters from its starting point. A 40 meters from your friends with the dragging current. "When I tried to swim, not going anywhere. The waves were coming very fast. Whenever rose, a wave hit me. He panicked, "said the Arizona Republic.
Faced with this tragic situation, Len was his salvation. "I thought I was dying. He risked his life for me. People do not know how close I've been dying, "she confessed the friend pívot that hear you scream" help "thought it was a joke. Fear Johnson's voice and movements ended that idea.
The Suns player decided to jump into the water. It's a great swimmer. Part of their training is to swim continuously for 90 minutes. "The moment I arrived I was about to faint. He could not swim. It was not moving. If you came to appear a couple of minutes later, probably would have drowned, "said Len who grabbed in water 90 kilos of his friend and took about a professional rescuer, with a float, he plunged into the sea to help the two.
The idea, though well-intentioned, was useless. The float could not bear the weight of the victim and the rescuer could not with him. There, Len, went back into action. He grabbed the rope and pulled Lifeguard both leveraging the strength of his legs. Its height also quickly allowed to touch the bottom, so the momentum was even greater. After 10 minutes agonizing, all ended up on the shore. It was a happy ending. "If he (Len) does not become so high, we would be burying their bodies," said a security guard of the hotel where they were staying.
