Days after declaring the start of the 2023 Voluntary Lifeguard Season, lifeguards at the Milnerton Surf Lifesaving Club quickly set into action to rescue two beachgoers and a junior lifeguard in separate near-drowning incidents on Sunday, 12 November.
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In an impressive display of service, the lifeguards (voluntary-, pro- and off-duty) stabilised the two beachgoers and carried them across the ‘deep, fast-flowing current at the mouth of the Diep River’ to the awaiting paramedics, ready to assist from the opposite bank of the river mouth.
No fatalities were reported.
In a separate incident, the vigilance of an off-duty lifeguard resulted in the safe rescue of a young nipper (junior lifeguard) at Milnerton Lagoon Beach on Sunday morning.
According to the Milnerton Surf Lifesaving Club, Lagoon Beach is a no-swimming beach one kilometre from the club, with no lifeguards on duty.
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‘A vigilant off-duty lifeguard was out riding waves on a knee-board when he spotted a young nipper being sucked out in a rip current,’ the club said in a Facebook post.
‘He quickly changed course and managed to reach and assist the distressed young boy and returned him safely to shore.’
With a busy swimming season expected, Voluntary Lifeguard Season kicked off on Saturday, 4 November, when lifeguards from the Milnerton Surf Lifesaving Club embarked on the first day of voluntary duty on Milnerton Beach.
The club said lifeguards will be present on the beach every Saturday, Sunday and public holiday until 1 April 2024, with the high swimming season commencing on 1 December.
‘Always swim where and when lifeguards are on duty,’ urged the club.
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