Spur-of-the-moment ‘hero’ prevents double drowning at Bloemveld Dam

What should be a relaxed environment for picnics and fishing turned into a tragedy for two teenagers and other families who witnessed a drowning at Bloemveld Dam. Two teenage boys went swimming on Sunday afternoon, and Michael Richards heard the conversation between the two friends. Michael says that one of the boys jumped from the walkway to the pump station tower into the water. However, Michael says the boy warned the other boy that the water was freezing cold. The other teen then went down slowly by holding onto a railing before letting go and falling into the water. Michael, who was a mere 60 to 80 metres from the boys, says he heard one of the boys calling out for help. Michael, who was at the dam with his family, was seated on his bass kick boat when he heard the cry for help. He paddled towards the boys as fast as he could. When he reached them, one of the boys grabbed onto the boat and said he could no longer hold onto his friend. Michael says that the drowning friend was pulling the other boy down with him and this would’ve led to a double drowning. Emotional and visibly traumatised, Michael told a Vryheid Herald journalist, “I tried everything to save the other boy as well, but I just couldn’t find him. I stayed there to try and search for him under the water, but he was gone. I felt so helpless; I could only save one of the two. It was clear that if the friend hadn’t let go, he would’ve drowned as well. He told me that he could no longer hold onto his friend.”

Michael’s wife alerted emergency services. They arrived at the scene and started with a rescue attempt. Michael was able to indicate the exact spot where the boy was seen above the surface, just before he disappeared under the water. Local residents and emergency services searched until dark, but had no success. On Monday morning, teams from SAPS Search & Rescue Newcastle, Empangeni and Vryheid continued the search. Two divers entered the water and the body was found within four minutes at a depth of approximately four metres. The divers commented that the groundwork of indicating where the boy was last seen, which was done by Frikkie Bekker and his team, was exceptional and led them to a fairly easy recovery. The boy who drowned was 16 years old.

The family of the surviving boy was at the scene, but only the uncle of the deceased boy attended the ‘recovery’ of the body. The uncle indicated that the boy’s mother is terribly traumatised by the incident.

Michael and his 12-year-old son, who also witnessed the drowning, will receive counselling after the traumatic event.

ALSO READ: Search for drowning victims unsuccessful

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