Bravery in action: Cape Town teen awarded for life-saving rescue at uMhlanga
Fish Hoek Surf Lifesaving Club’s Braedon Powell, 15, has been awarded the Royal Lifesaving Society’s highest award for bravery in 2024, the Mountbatten Medal for a rescue at uMhlanga Rocks last year.
Image: Lifesaving SA
A Cape Town teenager has received the Royal Lifesaving Society’s highest honour for bravery, the Mountbatten Medal, for his rescue in March last year near Whalebone Pier, in uMhlanga Rocks in Durban.
Fish Hoek Surf Lifesaving Club’s Braedon Powell, 15, is South Africa's youngest recipient of the Royal Lifesaving Society’s highest honour according to a statement from Lifesaving South Africa (LSA).
The 15-year-old was with his parents in Durban for the LSA DHL National Championships when the drama unfolded.
“Mid-afternoon, the Fish Hoek junior saw an adult man lose his footing and get pulled out to sea in the cyclonic surf conditions which had resulted in beaches being closed. The man was quickly pulled towards the backline after a big set.
“Braedon grabbed a nearby NSRI (National Sea Rescue Institute) pink torpedo buoy and jumped over the railings and swam out to the man despite the treacherous conditions.
“He managed to secure and pull the large victim close to shore, where five by-standers hauled the patient up the steep beach. Braedon was pulled back out to sea again and had to fight hard to reach safety, injuring himself as he clambered over the rocks. Thanks to Braedon’s immediate action and bravery, the man survived the ordeal”, read his award-winning citation.
LSA said Braedon is the fifth and youngest South African lifesaver to win the Mountbatten Medal in the past seven years, highlighting the high standards of lifesaving within the country's volunteer lifesaving movement, headed up by Lifesaving South Africa.
Convener of LSA’s Bravery Awards committee, Stanford Slabbert, has confirmed 19 rescue heroes for the past year (July 2024 to June 2025) after 14 dramatic rescues were adjudicated.
Other rescue efforts that have been commended include
- A father & daughter duo, who effected a daring rescue together, off the Big Bay coastline and
- Three SA lifesavers who saved lives in other parts of the world, notably Bali and Abu Dhabi, UAE.
- The youngest is 10-year-old Kings Beach LSC nipper, Jaed Beaton.