Local Heroes to the rescue!

SEDGEFIELD NEWS - Beachgoers and school-children last week joined hands to save the life of a 12-year-old girl who was swept away by a rip current while swimming.

According to Ian Gerber, NSRI Wilderness duty coxswain, on Thursday 17 March, NSRI duty crew responded to reports of a drowning in progress at Swartvlei Beach in Sedgefield.

"At the time NSRI Wilderness were conducting a training drowning prevention and water safety orientation event for 90 schoolchildren at the NSRI Wilderness Base," Gerber said.

"Eye-witnesses reported children from a school group (not related to the training that was happening at NSRI Wilderness) appeared to be caught in a rip current while swimming in the surf line at Swartvlei Beach."

NSRI Wilderness rescue swimmers responded directly to the scene while the NSRI rescue vehicle responded and the sea rescue craft Jetrib was launched.

The Western Cape Government Health EMS rescue squad and ambulance, the EMS/AMS Skymed rescue helicopter, Knysna Fire and Rescue Services, the police and ER24 ambulance services were dispatched to the scene, while the police dive unit was placed on alert.

According to Gerber, a 12-year-old boy from the same group as the girl in trouble, swam after her immediately, hoping to help.

A teacher summoned children to fetch the NSRI Pink Rescue Buoy at Swartvlei and a 17-year-old matric girl from the same school, who is a surfer, swam out to assist while teachers alerted the NSRI and emergency services.The teenage girl reached the 12 year-old-girl and, using the rescue buoy as a flotation aid, managed to keep the young girl afloat. NSRI's base in Wilderness, from where the NSRI volunteers were dispatched.

While the teenager helped the young girl, a teacher shouted to the boy that he should swim parallel to the beach to escape the rip current.

"The boy, being a strong swimmer, swam out of the rip current and he managed to get back to shore safely without assistance," said Gerber.

A German man, Klaus Heinrich, who was on the beach at the time with his friend noticed the commotion.

He fetched his kite boarding equipment from his car and launched into the water with the kite board under sail and went to the aid of the two girls.

When he reached them, the teenager hung onto his board, still using the rescue buoy for flotation and holding on to the 12 year-old-girl, and he sailed his kite board back to the beach with the two girls holding onto the kite board.

Gerber said while on their way to Swartvlei, the NSRI received consistent updates from the scene. "While responding to the scene we were receiving calls from eye-witnesses reporting that a bystander had launched into the water on a kite-board and he towed them to the beach using his kite-board under sail," Gerber said.

When NSRI and emergency services arrived on the scene, the children and the teenager were safely out of the water and on the beach.

"They were assessed by paramedics and treated for mild hypothermia and were then released into the care of their teachers, as they required no further medical attention," said Gerber.

"NSRI commends Klaus Heinrich and the matric teenager for saving the life of the child. The quick reaction and instructions of the teachers is commended."

Heinrich expressed wishes to not talk to the media regarding the incident.

A rescue in Plett

And in a separate incident Sea Rescue volunteers jumped in to assist when a crewman aboard a fishing trawler was injured in Plettenberg Bay last week.

National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) Plettenberg Bay duty coxswain Gerard Jordaan said that the local crew was alerted about an injured man on the trawler at about 12:00 on Monday 14 March.

Jordaan said at that stage, the fishing trawler was about 26 nautical miles from Plettenberg Bay, heading towards town. "They requested medical assistance," Jordaan said.

Their duty crew launched the sea rescue craft Leonard Smith and rendezvoused with the fishing vessel in the bay.

"NSRI medical crew were transferred on board the fishing vessel and the patient was stabilised before being transferred onto our sea rescue craft," Jordaan said.

The patient was brought to the NSRI rescue base and taken into the care of WC Government Health EMS paramedics who transported him by ambulance to hospital in a stable condition.

Klaus Heinrich, the German who helped rescue the young girl.