Volunteers Lukhangele Tabata, Akhona Mabuto and Jaybes October have been hailed heroes after saving a new dad from drowning on New Year’s Day in Mossel Bay.
Mossel Bay, South Africa (03 January 2023) – Lifesaving South Africa got a letter from the supervisor of the lifesavers at Glentana Beach in Mosselbay, alerting them of three volunteer lifesavers who saved a life on New Year’s Day.
Werner and Carien van Deventer were at the beach for the day, when trouble arose. Werner shared how they had been walking when a woman started screaming for help.
“Carien and I decided to walk towards Outeniqua beach just to enjoy the sun and weather.
On our way we saw a lady screaming for help and directing towards the sea, I walked closer and asked what is going on. For a while we could not see a thing!!
She was terrified and said her husband is in the sea busy drowning!!!! We were shocked the realize deep into the sea we saw a person struggling with currents and huge waves. The sea was very rough!!
We were helpless, you can not go in and this happened only about 400 meters away from the lifesaver area, we then realised that the person in trouble wife, already got some help when we arrived, and we were glad to see a lifesaver with the yellow float was approaching the man in the sea. He was battling with the currents.”
Three volunteer lifesavers were on duty at the beach that day. Lukhangele Tabata, Akhona Mabuto and Jaybes October became the heroes of the day when they jumped into action to save the man.
The seas were incredibly rough and Werner was very concerned the man wouldn’t survive the ordeal and the lifesavers would also be at risk.
“After a huge struggle, all 4, 1 troubled swimmer and 3 lifesavers got safely out of the water. During this ordeal, a Sea Rescue boat and two medical vehicles also arrived on the scene.
We were so thankful that everybody survived, we were also impressed with the the professional way in which Sea Rescue responded.” – Werner van Deventer
Lifesaving South Africa relies on volunteers to keep an eye on as many beaches as possible in South Africa. It is an internationally renowned lifesaving organisation that works to prevent drownings by training volunteers.
During the 2021/2022 season, the teams across South Africa took part in 1462 rescues and 3885 first-aid cases. They have helped train 4160 lifeguards.
You can find out more about Lifesaving South Africa by checking out their website here.
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