Abbygail Janse van Rensburg, Karla and Lisa Stumpf, and Megan Johnson all played a vital role in saving the life of a fellow teen caught in a rip current.
Jeffreys Bay, South Africa (08 February 2021) – The NSRI Jeffreys Bay duty crew were alerted to a drowning in progress on Saturday the 6th of February at Checkers Beach. When the duty crew arrived, the 17-year-old victim had been rescued by four teens.
The 17-year-old young lady from Hankey showed signs and symptoms of non-fatal drowning, and paramedics treated her in an ambulance before being released in good health requiring no further assistance.
She had been swimming with her brother when she was swept out to sea by rip currents. Her brother was able to make it back safely to shore. Thankfully, four local young ladies came to their rescue.
Lisa Stumpf, 19, and Megan Johnson, 14, were approached by the young woman’s mother. She frantically asked them for help. Seeing the two struggling in the surf line, Lisa and Megan immediately alerted their friends Abbygail Janse van Rensburg, 14, and Lisa’s twin sister Karla Stumpf, 19.
Abbygail is the daughter of a founding member and former station commander of NSRI Jeffreys Bay, Rieghard Janse van Rensburg. Between them, the girls raised the alarm alerting NSRI and the emergency services.
At that stage, the brother had reached the shore without assistance, and he was safe, but the young lady was caught in rip currents, and she continued to be swept further out to sea.
The 4 local girls knew that they needed to act fast, and time was of the essence. Hence, Lisa handed Abbygail a body-board to be used for floatation instead of running a hundred meters down the beach to fetch the international winning NSRI pink rescue buoy stationed on that beach.
Karla put on a pair of flippers and together Abbygail and Karla swam 100 meters out to sea through the surf. Using the body-board for floatation together, Abbygail and Karla assisted the struggling young lady to float, and then they guided her through the breaking surf safely to the beach.
At that stage, NSRI Jeffreys Bay crew and paramedics had arrived, they quickly took over. They performed all the necessary medical checks and cleared the young lady.
“NSRI commend the 4 local girls, Abbygail Janse van Rensburg, Karla and Lisa Stumpf and Megan Johnson for their combined efforts that contributed to saving the life of the teenager.”
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