Karapetyan managed to save 46 of the 92 passengers, 20 of whom lived. He spent forty-five days in the hospital due.
To the combination of the cold water and the many cuts from the glass fragments. He had sepsis and pneumonia.
Although he recovered, he was unable to pursue his swimming career due to lung injury. “I was terrified of making a mistake because I knew I could only rescue so many lives.
I could hardly see anything since it was so dark down there. By mistake, one of my dives grabbed a seat rather of a passenger. Instead, I could have saved a life.
“I still have nightmares about that seat,” he said. Karapetyan discovered trapped persons inside a burning building in 1985. He hurried in and started removing individuals.
