A Port Elizabeth mother was treated for severe hypothermia after drifting in the ocean in her life jacket for nearly two hours.
The mom and her friend went surf skiing when she fell out of her surf-ski on Saturday.
A spokesperson for the NSRI Craig Lambinon said it is understood that the surf-ski drifted away from her and she was given her friends’ surf ski and life jacket as the friend was a stronger swimmer.
The mom found her friend’s cell phone and tried calling her son for over an hour. He did not recognize the number and therefore ignored it until he eventually answered it as the number continued calling him.
She told her son that she was drifting about 1 nautical mile off-shore of Main Beach as she had also lost the surf ski given to her by her friend.
Lambinon said once the son raised the alarm they immediately launched their rescue craft and found the mom’s friend being assisted by a male surf-skier.
He said she was surprised to learn that her friend was drifting at sea and was treated for mild hypothermia.
Several calls were then made to the cell phone but it went unanswered and her son was called in to give them as much information as possible.
The victim was eventually found and treated for severe hypothermia.
Lambinon said the mom was taken to hospital where she spent the night under observation.
Both surf skies washed up later in the afternoon, 10 nautical miles South.
