Off-duty NSRI crew members helped save a man that was swept out to sea at Dolphin’s Beach in Jeffreys Bay on Sunday, 31 October.
According to Craig Lambinon, NSRI spokesperson, the NSRI’s Grant Grove and Dean
Wegerle contributed in preventing a drowning yesterday.
Grant is an NSRI EOC (Emergency Operations Centre) duty controller, a coxswain
and rescue swimmer at NSRI Strandfontein and a rescue swimmer at the NSRI
Airborne Sea Rescue Unit, while Dean is the NSRI Events and Community
Fundraising Manager and a coxswain and rescue swimmer at NSRI Table Bay.
“They are on a field trip visiting NSRI stations and assisting at NSRI
Events. Having just completed a successful NSRI Oyster Bay Boere Dans
fundraising event, and while heading towards the Wild Coast, they stopped at
Jeffreys Bay to take a walk on the beach,” Lambinon said.
On Dolphin Beach, in front of the NSRI Jeffreys Bay rescue station,
they noticed a man caught in a rip current.
“He was swimming in the direction of the beach, but caught in a rip current, he
was gradually being swept further out to sea,” said Grove, “and we
recognised the danger that he was in.”
Grant grabbed the NSRI Pink Rescue Buoy that is stationed at that beach
on it’s pole, while Wegerle alerted the NSRI Jeffreys Bay duty crew and
NSRI’s EOC.
“NSRI Jeffreys Bay duty crew were activated to a drowning in progress at 16:50
and they responded. Grant swam about 100 meters out to sea where he
reached the casualty – a local man aged in his 40’s,” Lambinon said.
“The man was at first reluctant to accept my
help, but I could see that he was getting tired and despite
swimming in the direction of the beach. The rip current was slowly pulling him
further out to sea,” added Grove.
“I passed the pink rescue buoy to him which he
grabbed a hold of and he held onto it tightly. The relief that I saw on
his face for having that floating object to hold onto, was obvious. I gently coached him to tread water while I swam parallel to the
beach, pulling him along with me while he held onto the pink buoy, until we
were free of the rip current and then we used the incoming waves and we reached
the shoreline safely.”
By that stage NSRI Jeffreys Bay crew were arriving on the scene but the man was
not injured and he required no further assistance.
“NSRI commend the swift reaction of Grant and Dean. This is the 79th time that a life has been saved with the contribution of an
NSRI Pink Rescue Buoy since the 2017 inception of the NSRI Pink Rescue Buoy
program,” said Andrew Ingram, NSRI Drowning Prevention Manager.
NSRI Pink Rescue Buoys are stationed around the coastline at beaches that are
not patrolled by lifeguards.
