Surfers and Good Samaritan save boy swept out to sea in Sea Point

A 10-year-old boy is recovering in hospital after being rescued from the surf at Rocklands Beach in Sea Point, Cape Town, on Thursday afternoon, thanks to the quick action of Good Samaritans, surfers and emergency responders.

The Witness reports that, according to National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) spokesperson Craig Lambinon, the boy was sitting on rocks with his 13-year-old brother when a wave suddenly swept him into the sea during the spring high tide.

Their father, who was nearby, watched helplessly as the child was pulled into the surf.

The scene was responded to by NSRI Table Bay, NSRI Bakoven rescue swimmers and NSRI medics, the Western Cape Government Health Emergency Medical Service (EMS) and an EMS duty doctor, SAPS, Cape Town Fire and Rescue Services, City of Cape Town (CoCT) Law Enforcement, CoCT lifeguards, ER24 ambulance services, Netcare 911 ambulance services and the Community Security Organisation.

According to Lambinon, an unidentified man immediately entered the water to try to help. Local surfers, who had just come out of the water, spotted the unfolding drama from the Sea Point Promenade and also rushed to assist.

One of them, 21-year-old Devon Coombe from Kenilworth, had been scanning the waves from the rocks on the shoreline, preparing to continue surfing, when he was alerted by his fellow surfer friends, who were on the Sea Point Promenade, Lambinon says.

“Devon launched his surfboard to go to assist when he noticed that the man, an unidentified Good Samaritan, was trying to assist a child who was in difficulty in the water, in the surf zone,” Lambinon says.

“Devon recognised that the unidentified Good Samaritan man was attempting to get the child’s head above water.”

Coombe managed to get the boy onto his surfboard and paddled him safely to shore, where bystanders immediately began cardiopulmonary resuscitation while others raised the alarm.

“Cape Town Fire and Rescue Services arrived on the scene first and confirmed that their paramedics were assisting in resuscitation efforts on a 10-year-old child, and there were no further casualties, and all were out of the water,” Lambinon says.

“The child was conscious and breathing spontaneously but with difficulty.”

Lambinon commended everyone involved.

“The unidentified Good Samaritan, the surfer, Devon Coombe and all the bystanders who assisted and raised the alarm are commended for their contribution that saved the child’s life,” he says.

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