A professional mermaid nearly drowns during a show

Gabriela's show almost turned tragic. The swimmer, who works as a mermaid in a shopping mall, was being filmed by an audience when something unexpected happened that put her life in danger. Fortunately, she had the right reflex. However the video shot during this dangerous moment shows us that it definitely was an emergency.

A mermaid show in South Africa

The incident took place at the Randburg Shopper Center in Johannesburg, South Africa. One of the center's main attractions is the Crest Aquarium, an educational aquarium featuring 32 fish... and mermaids.

Mermaids like Gabriela, or Nokukhanya, as she goes by professionally. This swimmer regularly dons her disguise to perform for mall customers.

Except one day, her fish tail got stuck in a coral reef, preventing her from returning to the surface. As can be seen in the video, Nokukhanya remained stuck for a few moments, before freeing herself thanks to a safety gesture.

The importance of safety gestures in swimming

Nokukhanya is a professional swimmer, trained in safety techniques. When she realized that her tail was stuck, she didn't hesitate to perform a 'quick release'. Nokukhanya took advantage of this incident to reiterate the importance of training and safety gestures when swimming.

'Remember, safety first,' she says in her video, where she doesn't fail to remind her audience that she is indeed safe and sound.

This article has been translated from Gentside France

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