A quick-thinking man fought against an outgoing Spring tide at the Goukou River Mouth, using only a pink NSRI rescue buoy to pull a struggling teenager back from danger.
Stilbaai, South Africa (10 November 2025) – The NSRI Stilbaai duty crew was at their rescue base, preparing for routine training, when they received an urgent call about a drowning in progress at the Goukou River Mouth on Thursday evening, 6 November.
A local teenager had been swept away by the outgoing Spring tide. However, in a brave act, a nearby adult man plunged into the rough waters, armed with an NSRI pink rescue buoy. He quickly reached the struggling teen and used the buoy to keep him afloat, while they were both carried out to sea beyond the river mouth.
NSRI Stilbaai station commander, Stéfan Grové, reported that the NSRI Stilbaai JetRIB rescue craft was launched to reach the Good Samaritan man and the teenager in the surf zone. Once there, the teenager and the man were taken on board and brought safely to the NSRI rescue base.
“The teenager was medically assessed and not injured; he was released requiring no further assistance.”
Grové, upon further assessing the events that could have possibly led to the incident, shared that it appeared that a family had been on the river shoreline when some of their beach toys had been swept into the river.
“The teenager had gone into the water to help try to recover a beach ball and some beach toys when he was caught in strong sea currents in the outgoing Spring tide, and he was swept away.”
The brave man, a Pieter van Niekerk, heard the commotion and quickly went to investigate before grabbing the pink buoy stationed on the shoreline. He launched it into strong currents, reached the teenager and swam to a point where he could stand when they were met by the responding rescue craft.
The NSRI has commended Pieter for his swift actions that profoundly contributed to saving the life of the teenager.
Sources: Supplied
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