Fisherman’s passion continues despite near-drowning

A near-drowning incident after the boat he was in flipped at Doonside Beach on Sunday afternoon, 6 August has not dented one of the fishermen’s love of the open sea.

David Valayadun (38) of Chatsworth was full of praise for the skipper, Neville Coetzer and his son Kalvin, who bravely swam back under the boat to save David’s father Cyril (65).

David managed to swim to shore and he suffered no ill effects, but Cyril is still in ICU at Kingsway Hospital. “He is doing much better and they said they will soon move him to St Augustine’s to do more tests,” said David.

“We have always fished with Neville. My dad has fished with him for over 25 years. We don’t trust anyone else, that’s why we always fish with them. This incident hasn’t put me off fishing. As soon as the boat is back in the water, we will go back out.”

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Tessa Mac Innes, a Warnadoone Ski-Boat Club member, had taken her niece down to the beach for a swim when she saw the boat in trouble.

“When I saw the boat slow down and a wave hit it, I thought this was trouble,” she said. When the boat flipped, she ran into the sea to help.

Along with another woman who was a paramedic, the first aider went from one fisherman to the next to check if they were breathing and had a pulse.

“We put them into the recovery position to expel the water from their lungs and righted the boat so that it could be brought in. It was a good team effort. I wasn’t the hero, everyone was.”