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A man in his early twenties is recovering in a Port Alfred hospital after being rescued from the surf when he was swept off the rocks at West Beach on Saturday.
The National Sea Rescue Institute said the alarm was raised by patrons watching the rugby at a beachfront restaurant who spotted a man in a wetsuit being washed off the rocks.
Spokesperson, Craig Lambinon, said the NSRI was alerted but in the meantime, the restaurant manager ran down to the beach and threw the pink rescue buoy to the man who was being battered by the waves.
“An off-duty NSRI trainee rescue swimmer, who was nearby at the time, saw the commotion and he ran along West Pier, stripped down to his under clothes and he jumped into the river to go to the assistance of the man,” he said.
Lambinon said when he reached the man, about 50 meters into the river from West Pier, he found only the NSRI pink rescue buoy afloat with no sign of the man who had by now slipped underwater.
He said the trainee rescue swimmer pulled on the rope and leash attached to the pink rescue buoy, and to his surprise, he could feel resistance so he continued to pull.
Lambinon said the man’s leg appeared from underwater and he was able to get the man's head above water but he was not breathing.
“At that stage, our NSRI rescue craft, Rescue 11 Alpha, had arrived on the scene and we pulled them onto our rescue craft. We initiated medical treatment and brought the man to our NSRI rescue station. The man had started spontaneous breathing and he was expelling water from his lungs.”
He was transported by private ambulance to hospital “in a serious condition by ambulance.”
