Thanks to good local samaritans and a “pink buoy,” another South African life was saved on Friday, 4 February at 7am.
This is the 99th successful rescue in which a Pink Rescue Buoy has been used to save a life. All rescues that have been attempted with a Pink Rescue Buoy have been successful and no harm has come to any rescuers.
According to NSRI, a group of locals, including Sarah Oberholzer and Jonathan Smuts, were swimming about 75 meters off Clifton’s 4th Beach when Sarah noticed a young man was unresponsive.
She asked him if he was ok and got no answer … although he was still swimming. She realised that he needed help. She waved and shouted, which prompted local heroes, Struan Jamieson and Jason Fialkov to hop into action and swim out to help her and Jonathan.
Struan rescued a woman two weeks prior after she washed out of the #SaundersRocks tidal pool and really struggled with that rescue as he did not have any flotation device.
Struan decided to first run up the beach and fetch the #PinkBuoy, which he knew would help him and the man in this difficult situation. Struan and Jason swam out through big surf with the Pink Buoy, which the hypothermic young man gratefully took hold of.
“The conditions were hectic and there was a strong rip,” said Jason, who was a Clifton Lifeguard in his youth. “We had to fight the #ripcurrent which was pulling us towards the rocks and he was so heavy,” agreed Struan.
The four rescuers managed to get the young man onto the beach safely and tried to warm him up knowing that an ambulance was on the way.
The young man was taken to hospital and kept overnight with non-fatal drowning symptoms. He was released on Saturday, 5 February and is absolutely fine after his ordeal.
The NSRI’s Pink Rescue Buoy initiative has been a ground-breaking innovation for Drowning Prevention since 2017, winning the IMRF (International Maritime Rescue Federation) Award for Innovation and Technology in 2018.
Placed strategically on signs at selected inland rivers, dams and at beaches, these bright pink buoys act as a reminder to take care if there are no lifeguards on duty, and that in the event of someone getting into difficulty in the water, they can be used as emergency flotation until help arrives. Their bright pink colour allows them to be easily seen.
Each Pink Rescue Buoy is housed on a sturdy pole with signage showing how they should be used, as well as the NSRI’s emergency number and the buoy’s unique identification number, which helps rescue services to identify the location of the emergency.
ID numbers and NSRI’s contact telephone numbers are also embossed on the buoys themselves so they can easily be returned to their posts after usage, or if they are lost or stolen.
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Picture: Facebook / NSRI