A Cape Town man who was rescued from drowning by a local beachgoer while swimming at Clifton 4th last weekend has indicated that he would be donating R50 000 to the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI).
38-Year-old Mardus Strydom was enjoying a beautiful morning swim with friends when his limbs started to give in as he attempted to make his way back to shore. Needless to say, Strydom was terrified as he found himself momentarily unresponsive while caught in a rip current, as per News24.
According to Strydom, he apparently had no clue that he had swum that deep into the water as he chatted with friends in the ocean during his 6am splash, only realising a moment later that they had swum till behind the backline.
Panic took hold of him as he thought he wouldn’t be able to make it back to the beach after getting caught in a rip current.
“I froze. At that moment, you don’t really think clearly as you are in a state of shock. The waves were crashing against each other, and I was completely out. I blanked out for a few minutes till help came,” he told News24.
Thankfully, there were a few good samaritans ready to help as lifeguards only came on duty at 10am. Sarah Oberholzer and Jonathan Smuts were swimming about 75 meters off Clifton’s 4th Beach when Sarah noticed Strydom 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 using the life-saving pink buoy located on the beach.
To show his gratitude to the NSRI and all the amazing work they do, Strydom has pledged to donate R50 000 with friends, family and his employer adding to the funds.
“The company I work for had agreed to also donate some funds as well as friends and family. I have also decided I will be sponsoring an extra three pink buoys so that more people’s lives can be saved,” he stated.
Despite his brush with death, Strydom states that this experience will not keep him away from the ocean water.
Also read:
Local heroes and a “pink buoy” save another South African life
Picture: Unsplash