Full week after their incredibly heroic efforts made the pages of Finland's largest daily newspaper, their story has bobbed its way across the Atlantic and onto our shores. It concerns Hege Dalen and Toril Hansen, a lesbian couple from Norway who were sharing a quiet dinner near the doomed island of Utoya when they began to "hear gunfire and screaming" coming from the island: Anders Behring Breivik's shooting rampage had begun.
We were eating. Then shooting and then the awful screaming. We saw how the young people ran in panic into the lake," says Dale to HS in an interview.
The couple immediately took action and pushed the boat into Lake Tyrifjorden.
Dalen and Hansen drove the boat to the island, picked up victims in shock, the young and wounded, and transported them to the opposite shore to the mainland. Between runs they saw that the bullets had hit the right side of the boat.
Since there were so many and not all fit at once aboard, they returned to the island four times.
They were able to rescue 40 young people from the clutches of the killer.
Toril Hansen and Hege Dalen, a married lesbian couple, were dining on the opposite shore from the youth campsite on Utoya Island when Anders Breivik opened fire. The couple rushed to the aid of those trapped on the island -- putting themselves in grave danger to rescue 40 teens.
Finnish newspaper was apparently the first major news outlet to report on the dramatic rescue, and the translated story then began to appear on English-language LGBT blogs and newspapers. The blog Talk About Equality published the following translation:
Hege Dalen and her spouse, Toril Hansen were near Utöyan having dinner on the opposite shore across from the ill-fated campsite, when they began to hear gunfire and screaming on the island.
"We were eating. Then shooting and then the awful screaming. We saw how the young people ran in panic into the lake," says Dalen to HS Helsingin Sanomat in an interview.
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