A young journalist covering severe flooding in Mexico has been fired after she was photographed being carried by two local people to avoid getting her expensive shoes wet.
Lydia Cumming was fired by TV Azteca, who accused her of lacking professionalism, but the story soon overwhelmed the Internet, inspiring dozens of memes.
The young reporter was sent to city of Puebla in central Mexico, which was inundated with floodwater.she said two local residents told her an elderly neighbor in a wheelchair who had been badly affected by the floods and they offered to carry her to the lady’s home.
She told El Pais:
‘I try to maintain a good relationship with people and I was afraid I would sound rude if I turned down the favor. They carried me two seconds and after I asked them to put me down.’
Another journalist posted the image on Cumming’s Facebook page but it was then discovered by José Daniel Hernández.
He tweeted it, with the caption: ‘Shameful. Lydia Cumming, reporter with TV Azteca Puebla, calls for a lift to avoid getting wet.’
The story was picked up in the Mexican capital and within minutes was trending as #LadyReportera on Twitter, with jokers using the image in a number of memes, ranging from Star Wars and Game Of Thrones to Titanic.