Sometimes a single rescue takes a village! After a fisherman found himself pinned down by a rock and later, trapped because of injuries, several Good Samaritans came to his rescue including a kind fisherman and a determined car attendant.
Western Cape, South Africa (14 June, 2023) — What started as a normal day out on the rocks turned into an ordeal for one fisherman exploring just beyond Knoetzie. Luckily, several Good Samaritans played their parts in helping save the fisherman’s life; from another kind fisherman to a determined car attendant and several rescue teams.
According to the NSRI Kynsna, the fisherman’s story began to unfold after they received a call from a resident in the area. She explained that a fisherman appeared to be stuck, in injured condition, after seemingly being trapped by a rock. The man was brought to her attention by a helpful car attendant seeking assistance for the man.
Little was known of the fisherman’s rocky road at the time. However, the chain reaction rescue had started thanks to another mysterious fisherman who alerted the car attendant of the stranger’s struggle. Later, the NSRI came to find that the first Good Samaritan in the saga had played a bigger role than that.
All duty crews including the Western Cape Government Health Emergency Medical Services, Knysna Fire and Rescue and the SAPS amongst others had been alerted to the fisherman’s plight, as well as rescue helicopters and crafts. The only problem for the teams waiting in the wings? They had no idea where the injured man was.
Thanks to the car attendant, they discovered that the injured angler had dislodged a rock by mistake which sent him falling into a rock pool. He was pinned down by the rock, unable to escape until the mystery fisherman came to his rescue and rolled it off him.
Here, the car attendant became the rescue operation’s mouthpiece. On a mission, he headed back to the scene to find the man’s exact location, wore reflective gear so that the teams would find him in the easy-to-miss area and even started a fire so the smoke would guide the rescue squad’s path when the reflective gear wasn’t effective enough. Phone signals weren’t working, making communication amid the search that much harder.
In the nick of time, before the tides rolled in, the rescue teams finally met the injured fisherman thanks to the smoke. They beat through the beast of the landscape; having to hike along rocks to just to reach him. He was treated for hypothermia and other injuries, but still, he needed to get to safety.
Despite efforts made to carry him, night had fallen and continuing the journey was too risky. Making an important call, the rescue paramedics opted to stay with him overnight until a helicopter could lift him to safety in the morning light when a safe landing zone could be found.
Morning came with a new bout of hope, and soon, safe land and the welcomed beach sand of Knoetzie Beach.
“That fisherman, the car attendant, the resident who called NSRI and all emergency services involved are commended for saving the fisherman’s life,” shared the NSRI of the chain reaction that caused a rescue.
Sometimes it takes a village! But if the injured fisherman’s story says anything, it’s that a helping hand can come from anyone and everyone.
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