Dusi paddler dies on day two of race
"This is a tragedy that has shaken the Dusi to the core."
Heine Jordaan, a 57-year-old paddler and Durban dentist, died while competing in Friday’s second stage of the 2015 Dusi Canoe Marathon.
Jordaan started the day in G batch with experienced fellow Stella Canoe Club paddler, Neels Meyer, at 7.55am before encountering problems at a rapid near Big Bend Rapid, about seven kilometres from the headwater of Inanda Dam.
Jordaan and Meyer’s boat hit a rock and the pair got into difficulty. Meyer managed to get out of their boat; however, Jordaan became trapped and was forced underwater for approximately three minutes.
Paddlers rallied together and did everything possible to assist Jordaan, including assisting Meyer to extract Jordaan from the river and notifying a paramedic just downstream of the incident. One of the paddlers who stopped to help managed to attract the attention of a safety helicopter that Dusi General Manager, Brett Austen Smith, was travelling in.
“The terrain made landing the safety helicopter impossible and a second, smaller helicopter was dispatched, together with the race’s medical helicopter carrying the race doctor,” said Austen Smith.
He added, “This is a tragedy that has shaken the Dusi to the core.”
Jordaan’s family have been notified of the incident.
The Dusi Canoe Marathon race organisers send their sincere condolences to Jordaan’s family, friends and Meyer, and ask the paddling fraternity to join them in offering their full support to Jordaan’s loved ones during this time.
