Three young boys were saved from drowning when an alert six-year-old boy spotted they were in trouble in the water at a Plettenberg Bay beach on Sunday, the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) said.
NSRI Plettenberg Bay duty crew were activated at about 11.40am following reports of a drowning in progress at Hobie Beach, Plettenberg Bay, NSRI Plettenberg Bay station commander Marc Rodgers said.
“Cameron Badenhorst, a six-year-old local male child, noticed the drowning in progress happening in the surf in front of the lifeguard tower and he ran to our nearby NSRI sea rescue base to alert NSRI who dispatched rescue swimmers to the scene and alerted the lifeguard,” he said.
“On arrival on the scene, we found members of the public and a lifeguard assisting three children out of the water… our sea rescue swimmers assisted to get the children out of the water and they were placed on oxygen and treated for non-fatal drowning symptoms by NSRI medics and Med-Life ambulance services were activated.”
The three boys, two aged nine and one 11, were transported to a hospital by Med-Life ambulance in a stable condition for further treatment and for observation for secondary drowning. They were expected to fully recover, Rodgers said.
“The children had been swept out to sea by rip currents they got caught in after incoming waves prevented them from being able to stand in the surf line, and they were caught by the rip currents. Cameron’s quick reaction in alerting us, and the members of the public that assisted, are commended for their actions,” he said.
– African News Agency (ANA)
