Men and women involved with the NSRI and members of the public have been awarded for their bravery during the NSRI 2021 AGM.
Cape Town, South Africa (15 June 2021) – The NSRI held their annual AGM this month and used the moment to honour the men, women and ships that were involved in some incredible rescues over the last year. Several awards were handed out, including Bravery Awards, Director’s Thanks and Long Service Awards.
These men and women went above and beyond to uphold what the NSRI stands for. Below are some of the inspiring stories shared by the NSRI.
Vincent Landman took part in a Combative Rescue, saving a woman who resisted being saved from drowning.
Vincent Landman is a Class 3 Cox’n and Rescue Swimmer at Station 9 Gordons Bay. He arrived on the scene of an emergency call early evening on 27th February 2021 at the Strand. Reports said a woman had been swept into the water.
He was the first NSRI Crewman to arrive on the scene just minutes after receiving the call. Once on scene, he immediately assessed the scenario and what actions were needed. While donning his wetsuit, the additional crew arrived, whom he tasked for the operation, and then he entered the water (following all COVID and NSRI safety protocols).
It was now dark, and the casualty and a fisherman who was fishing off the outer reef were out of sight and significantly deep in. Vincent swimming out, found and reached the casualty by following her screaming. Once he reached her, he realised she was not going to be rescued without a struggle.
Being deep in the water, in a pitch dark night, between shallow reefs with a combative casualty whose intentions were to kill herself, Vincent faced the critical question: do I leave her alone and save myself, or do I do what is necessary to save her life.
Vincent decided to rescue her and eventually managed to swim the combative casualty back to shore with no injuries to himself or the casualty, and in doing so, he saved her life. It should be noted that this is the fourth rescue Vincent has done where he brought a casualty back alive.
It was this bravery that earned Vincent a Director’s Thanks from Ronnie Stein, Date Chairman of the Board of Directors.
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.
The young ladies had all been at the beach when disaster struck. 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.
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.
Both Karla and Abbygail received a Director’s Thanks from Ronnie Stein, Date Chairman of the Board of Directors.
“Undoubtedly Abbygail’s actions that day and those of the other three girls involved in this rescue saved a life and all can be very proud of what they did.” – Ronnie Stein Date Chairman of the Board of Directors, NSRI.
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