The National Sea Rescue Institute in South Africa has been awarded for their life-saving Pink Buoy initiative.
Head of the drowning unit for the NSRI, Andrew Ingram, received the award for Innovation and Technology at a prestigious gala dinner held in Norway on Thursday night.
Spokesperson Craig Lambinon, says the organisation was concerned about the increasing rate of drownings and stepped forward to initiate a series of preventative campaigns.
He says drowning hot spots were identified, sponsors found, and a pilot project was launched, now 12 months later there are 300 installations around the country with 15 lives being saved thus far.
Lambinon adds the next step is to make this pervasive across all beaches and beside all water bodies around the country.
The buoy was used for the first time in WIlderness in 2017 when a teenager's life was saved. In 2018 a teenager from Centurion also came to the aid of a girl in Wilderness by using the device.
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