A 28-year-old man, named only as Cameron, earned himself a hero’s status on Saturday after single-handedly preventing not one, but two people from drowning.
Monzi’s Tersia Yeld assisted Cameron in the rescues at Cape Vidal, and shared details of the incident with the Zululand Observer.
‘My husband and two sons went deep sea fishing early that morning, and I was relaxing under our gazebo on the beach,’ explained Yeld.
‘About two hours after they had launched, I thought I heard someone shouting.
‘As I looked around, I noticed a guy who had capsized his paddle-ski, shouting for help.
‘I ran towards the water to assist, but saw that someone – who turned out to be Cameron – had already made his way to the chap.
‘When Cameron reached the man, he noticed that his life jacket was not securely fastened, and had been pushed above his head.
‘As a result, the man’s face was underwater while he was attempting to fight strong rip currents.
‘Seconds before the guy disappeared underwater, Cameron grabbed him and managed to also hold onto the paddle-ski, with the waves washing them both ashore.
‘Once Cameron got the guy onto the beach, we flipped him on his side and calmed him down, as he was panicking.
‘He coughed up some seawater, and was very weak and struggling to breathe. ‘We alerted a vehicle, which drove him from the beach to the parking lot.
‘It took about 40 minutes for him to recover.’
By this stage, St Lucia NSRI had been alerted to the near-drowning and, in turn, notified Cape Vidal Marine Conservation Manager, James Wood.
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Wood attended the scene and transported the victim to the NSRI base in St Lucia where he was treated by Dr. Simon.
Following medical treatment, the Kempton Park holidaymaker was dropped off at the campsite where he was staying.
While the victim was receiving medical treatment, Tersia noticed another person battling in the surf.
Without hesitation, Cameron once again made his way out into the water and carried out a second rescue.
In a strange twist to the saga, the second victim turned out to be the twin brother of the first.
The second victim suffered mainly from shock and did not require medical treatment.
