How a Good Samaritan saved a Polish tourist from rip currents using a wooden log
Jabula Beach in St Lucia where the incident took place.
Image: iSimangaliso Wetland Park / Facebook
A Polish man is lucky to be alive after a Good Samaritan rescued him from rip currents in St Lucia, KwaZulu-Natal.
The National Sea Rescue Institute's (NSRI) St Lucia station commander, Melinda Snyman, said the incident took place on Monday, just after 1.30pm, after an eyewitness reported a drowning in progress on Jabula Beach.
“A bystander raised the alarm by phoning NSRI Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) - finding the NSRI EOC's emergency number on an NSRI pink rescue buoy pole. NSRI rescue swimmers responded directly to the scene, while NSRI St Lucia duty crew responded to our NSRI St Lucia station 40 rescue base to prepare to dispatch our NSRI rescue vehicle and an NSRI rescue craft,” Snyman said.
However, on arrival at the scene, NSRI swimmers found that a bystander and another man had rescued the Polish tourist.
The Polish man was attended to by medics from the NSRI, and it was determined he was not injured and required no further assistance.
“The Good Samaritan, Reuben van der Nest, 24, had noticed the casualty in distress in the water, appearing to be caught in rip currents while snorkelling in the surf zone. The Good Samaritan quickly searched the beach, finding the NSRI pink rescue buoy pole, but sadly, the pink buoy is missing, which we believe was from a recent theft.
“A family, on the beach at the time, it appears, had located a wooden log, about two meters long, nearby on the beach, that the dad of that family had handed to the Good Samaritan, Reuben, which he used as a floatation device,” Snyman said.
Reuben entered the water, armed with the floating wooden log, and reached the distressed man. With the help of another bystander, they were able to bring the Polish man safely back to shore.
Reuben and his wife Petra are South African Safari Guides.
Reuben told the NSRI that he and his wife happened to be at the beach when they noticed the man in difficulty.
The other unidentified man is believed to be part of the tourist group the Polish man was with.
The NSRI has further commended the eyewitness who raised the alarm at the time.
“NSRI has commended Good Samaritan Reuben van der Nest, from Hoedspruit, for his quick thinking and the ingenuity in using the make-shift floating device (in the form of the wooden log), and we commend the unidentified man who assisted in this rescue of the Polish tourist. Their combined efforts contributed to saving the Polish man's life,” Snyman said.
The NSRI is further appealing to the public not to remove NSRI pink rescue buoys from their poles unless intending to use the rescue floatation pink buoy in a critical life-saving emergency.
robin.francke@iol.co.za
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