Blue Lagoon fisherman recalls ordeal, rushing to rescue drowning teen
"You don’t feel anything, it goes by so fast, So many people were screaming, I didn’t even hear them," said Keevesh Ramsumer who pulled the teenager to safety.
PANEL BEATER, Keevesh Ramsumer (38), said he didn’t think twice when he scrambled over the rocks to save teen, Bryn Jumbe (15) who was fighting for his life in the fierce Blue Lagoon tide on Saturday, 23 March.
Ramsumer, who was fishing with his son, Kreein, said it was about 4pm when high tide came in and the current started to pick up.
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“We were fishing on the right side of the bridge at Blue Lagoon, where you can see the beach, and we noticed two boys walk across the beach and try to cross the river. They went into the river and saw the current was strong and then went out again. My son came to me and said he thought they were trying to cross, but I told him, they won’t cross, they won’t make it,” said Ramsumer.
Assuming the boys had turned back for good, Ramsumer went back to his rod.
“We stopped watching them and went back to fishing. The water got very high; we noticed a big tree stump go past us, that’s how heavy the water was. I decided to go around the river bend and fish there. I was just about to cast in, when I saw two heads floating in the water. My son came up behind me and we were trying to figure out how to help,” recalled Ramsumer.
“I held onto the rock with my left hand and stretched the rod out. On the second attempt; I reached him, from the far water with the rod and pulled him close,”said Ramsumer.
Jumbe said he and his friend were trying to cross the river to catch a taxi to go home.
“I struggled in the water. I was almost across and then Keveesh pulled me out, with his rod so I could stand on the rock. I couldn’t believe it. I was panicking. I am not sure if I would have managed to get to the shore without help. There won’t be a next time, sometimes in life, you must not take short cuts,” he said.
Jumbe’s friend did not survive the ordeal.
“It was hard for me. I was shocked to see how far out into the water he got,” said Jumbe.
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“You don’t feel anything, it goes by so fast, So many people were screaming, I didn’t even hear them. It’s like that. My son took off his jacket and gave it to Bryn and I went back to the spot where we were fishing. I kept on scanning the water and the other boy popped up just before the second tunnel, afloat. He drifted downstream and I followed from the shore until I saw Metro Police. I jogged over to the police and told them about what had happened and told them to follow the body. But they only found it four days later, decomposed,” he added.
Although an avid Fisherman, Ramsumer said he will never go back to Blue Lagoon after witnessing the harrowing incident.
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