Young woman drowns in Crocodile River on Sterkspruit farm
A mom and her teenage twins rushed to the river in the hope of saving the woman
A woman (22) drowned in the Crocodile River on a farm in Sterkspruit outside Mbombela on Saturday afternoon, October 12.
A tenant on the farm, Landé van Wyk, along with her children and other residents, rushed to the scene with the hope of saving her as soon as they were alerted. Van Wyk said she alerted paramedics immediately.
“An eyewitness called me at 14:41 and my 14-year-old twins and I went to the scene and arrived there not more than seven minutes later Without hesitation, we went into the river to search for her. The area in which we found her was quite deeper than I expected and the water was cold. One of the twins dived into the river and managed to bring her up to the bank of the of river. Together with her partner, we performed CPR on her.”
Van Wyk said the woman did not respond to the CPR and they put her onto a bakkie to meet up with the emergency medical services responding to the incident.
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“ER24 personnel declared her dead when we met up with them halfway. Nonetheless, emergency services and the police responded quickly to the tragic incident,” she said.
Van Wyk said most residents on the farm have been traumatised by the incident, especially the deceased’s partner and the eyewitness.