This pretty mother of one has drowned after heroically entering the sea to try to save two men she spotted struggling in the water.
Scharlene Ferreira Rodrigues, 38, passed away in the municipality of Ipojuca in the north-eastern Brazilian state of Alagoas on the morning of Tuesday, 31st August.
She lived in the city of Campo Grande in the west-central Brazilian state of Mato Grosso do Sul, but was on holiday in the popular resort of Porto de Galinhas with four friends at the time.
Witnesses attest to seeing two men drinking on the beach in front of a hotel in the early morning before they entered the sea and began to drown.
The eyewitnesses say they saw Scharlene entering the water to try to save them. She apparently spent over four minutes trying to rescue the men before getting into difficulty herself.
A retired lifeguard who happened to be passing by at the time spotted the trio and entered the sea to try to save them. He was able to get all three out of the water.
One man, who was not named, did not require medical attention, but Scharlene and 28-year-old Kairo Cesar Pimentel Felipe from the west-central state of Goias were taken to hospital.
Kairo apparently survived, but his current health condition is unclear. However, Scharlene had ingested a lot of water and was undergoing cardiac arrest when she was admitted to hospital.
The doctors, despite their best efforts, were unable to revive her.
The local authorities have since said that the spot the men and Scharlene entered is considered dangerous as there is an underwater trench that facilitates currents.
The local authorities said that six people got into difficulty in the same spot the previous day, but they were all rescued immediately.
Scharlene worked for a travel agency in Campo Grande. According to information from her Facebook page, she hailed from the municipality of Nova Andradina in Mato Grosso do Sul and apparently had a son who was born in 2015 or 2016.
Her Facebook bio reads: “Live today, because yesterday is gone and the future is unpredictable.”
The police are investigating the case.
