A quick swim at Southport beach took an eventful turn for friends, Ryan Saunders and Grant Gordon, last Sunday.
Ryan said they got to the beach and Grant rushed off to swim.
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As a joke, Ryan ran along the northern rocks towards the pillar to jump off, to get to the backline faster than Grant.
“Swimming across the bay to the southern pillar I noticed two elderly men had been swept off the sandbank, as it was an outgoing tide,” explained Ryan.
Ryan said he swam next to the men but was also battling to get back to the sandbank, due to the strong rip current.
By then, Grant had reached the mid-break where they were swimming.
Ryan said he tried to keep the two men afloat and signalled to the lifeguards for assistance.
“As I am a former senior lifeguard I still know the signals and previous rescue procedures, but there was no response,” he said.
While all this drama was taking place, young Franchelle Herbst was bodyboarding nearby.
He volunteered to give Grant and Ryan his board to bring the two men back onto the bank.
The lifeguards then saw the commotion and quickly responded.
Grant and Ryan told the two men to hold onto the board, and Ryan kept them calm and relaxed by explaining that the current would eventually take them to shore, and they were not to panic.
Four Emithontaneni lifeguards, Mqondisi Shazi, Founder Mbongo, Ayanda Ziphile and Nhlakanipho Sineke arrived with Mali boards and torpedo buoys.
A great joint team effort between Ryan, Grant and the lifeguards got the two men safely to shore.
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