WATCH: Man Risks His Own Life To Save Chimp Drowning At Zoo!

Rick Swope was enjoying his day at the Detroit Zoo when he suddenly threw himself into the spotlight and ended up saving the life of a chimpanzee named Jojo.

Rick was watching the chimps when one of them fell in the water. Chimps are too dense to float and can’t swim, and it appeared as though Jojo was begging the zoo visitors for help. “It was the most pitiful thing I ever saw,” Swope said. “This chimp had his hands up and his head was sticking out of the water. He was looking at the crowd. It was like he wanted someone to rescue him.”

Faced with the decision of watching the chimp drown or saving him, Swope jumped into the exhibit to rescue the chimp. The zookeepers warned him to get out as chimps are seven times stronger than humans and incredibly territorial. But, Swope said he knew he would be devastated if the chimp died and he didn’t help.

The water was murky, but Swope managed to locate JoJo. “People . . . were showing me which direction he was in,” Swope recalled. “The water was so dirty you couldn’t see through it. I swam around on the bottom. Finally, I found him.”

When he got the chimp to shore, another one came barreling down the hill showing his teeth. Swope knew he had to get out of there. He left Jojo on the bank and returned to his wife and three kids who watched the whole ordeal unfold.

The dramatic rescue was caught on camera. You can see it in the video below.

This was quite a risk for the cement truck driver to take. He clearly didn’t intend to become part of the exhibit, but then again, he didn’t expect to see a chimp drown in front of his family either.

This could have been absolutely disastrous for Swope and the zoo. He could have been killed and the zoo could have been sued if one of their visitors died on their watch. Luckily for Rick and the zoo, no one died during the entire incident.

Share this if you are glad Jojo didn’t drown!

Source: Shareably