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The National Sea Rescue Institute commended a teen surfer from Port Alfred who rescued a family of three who got into difficulty at East Beach on Saturday.
Deputy station commander Gerrit Cloete said their duty crew was alerted to a drowning in progress where a brother and sister, aged 12 and 19, got caught in a rip current during the turn of high tide.
He said a local teen, Jason Palmer, was exiting the water when he saw the two being swept out to sea and launched his surfboard to go to their assistance.
Cloete said the children’s 42-year-old mother also launched into the water to assist.
He said the incident was posted on a social media site, and a friend of an NSRI crew member who happened to see the post alerted the NSRI.
Cloete said they activated their rescue swimmers, a rescue vehicle, and rescue craft 11 Alpha at around 10:40 am while the Gardmed ambulance service responded.
On arrival on the scene, they found all three casualties on the beach, which the paramedics then assessed.
The mother was taken to hospital for further treatment and later discharged, while the brother and sister were not injured.
Describing what had transpired, Cloete said 16-year-old Palmer, a learner at Port Alfred High School, launched his board and went to the assistance of the siblings, loading both casualties on-board, and paddling, and swimming them towards the shore.
He said when they got to the "surf zone", he also took the mom onto his board and managed to get all three safely ashore.
“Jason has been commended for his efforts that saved three lives,” Cloete said.
