Yaeesh Collins|Published
A father has died after entering the surf to help his teenage son and the boy’s friend, who were caught in difficulty at Leentjiesklip Beach in Wilderness on Saturday.
NSRI Wilderness station commander Jonathan Britton said the duty crew was activated at 5:31pm following reports of a “drowning in progress on Wilderness beach”.
The man and another father, who was visiting from Germany, entered the water after seeing the two teenagers struggling in the surf.
The 14-year-old German boy was able to get to safety before the emergency teams arrived. Medics treated him at the scene.
The South African Police Service, Western Cape Government Health EMS, ER24 and George Fire and Rescue Service also responded.
An NSRI rescue swimmer entered the water to assist the two fathers and the remaining teenager, who were “in distress in the surf zone”. The NSRI crew also launched two rescue crafts.
Rescuers brought the German father and the local teenager safely ashore. They later located the already deceased father “lifeless in the water” and brought him to the shoreline.
NSRI medics and provincial paramedics performed CPR, but he was declared dead after resuscitation efforts were unsuccessful.
Britton said that “after all efforts to resuscitate the man were exhausted, sadly the man was declared deceased.”
ER24 transported the surviving father and the two teenagers to hospital. Britton said they were “recovering in the care of doctors and nurses.”
The deceased man’s body was handed over to police and Forensic Pathology Services. SAPS has opened an inquest docket.
IOL