Port Edward’s Peter receives bravery award
He and his brother-in-law were praised for placing their own lives in danger to rescue the two young women.
Heroic Peter Brereton of Port Edward, and his brother-in-law Gerhard van Staden, both received bravery awards at the recent Lifesaving South Africa Awards function in Durban.
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Gerhard, who lives in the UK, was represented at the ceremony by his sister, Peter’s wife Theresa.
On March 10, 2017, Peter (60) and Gerhard were at the Port Edward main beach when they heard screams.
They quickly realised that two women had been caught in a strong rip current and were being swept out to sea.
Peter immediately swam out in the rip while Gerhard ran over the rocks and dived in.
As Peter approached one of the women, she disappeared under the murky water.
Peter felt for her with his foot, dived down and retrieved her.
He opened her airway and fought against the strong current to get her ashore.
Once on the beach, he began CPR which resulted in the woman being able to breathe on her own.
Meanwhile, Gerhard had located the second woman, fighting against the rip to get her to shore.
Again, Peter initiated CPR, saving the woman’s life.
The Kokstad women, aged 28 and 18 years, were hospitalised and both made full recoveries.
After the rescue, Peter collapsed and was also hospitalised overnight, with water in his lungs.
He too made a full recovery.
Letters of Commendation were presented to Peter and Gerhard for unhesitatingly going to the aid of the stricken women, and saving them from an almost certain death.
Stanford Slabbert, convenor of the bravery awards committee, praised the men for placing their own lives in danger to rescue the two young women.
“Port Edward is a dangerous beach and Peter has saved many lives over the years, because there are no professional lifeguards on duty. This time, he himself ended up in hospital, so he really went the extra mile to ensure that these women were rescued from their dire situation. Peter and Gerhard are true heroes.”
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