A Sea Park family is urging visitors not to swim at beaches which are not manned by lifeguards.
This comes after a tragic incident unfolded at Sea Park, where an 18-year-old boy drowned on December 29.
This particular stretch of beach is a non-swimming beach and is not manned by lifeguards.
Joshua Botes (17) was walking on the beach with his brothers, Levi Botes (13) and Drico Botes (11) when they witnessed two brothers getting swept out to sea.
Joshua’s father, Brendon Dougall, who was not on the beach that day, explained a family was sitting on the beach when one of their children, aged nine, got swept out while swimming in the shoreline.
“The child’s brother (18) jumped into the water to save him, but due to the rough sea conditions and strong rip currents, they both got into difficulty,” said Brendon.
“The brothers were swept out far, and the family was screaming for help. That’s when my son, Joshua, jumped into the water and swam out to the boys.”
When Joshua got to the boys, the eldest boy said to him: ‘Leave me and save my brother’.
Joshua had no choice, and he grabbed the younger boy and began to swim back to shore.
But, on the way, it became more difficult for Joshua to reach the shore.
The current was strong, and Joshua at one point thought he was going to die.
“I shouted to God to please help me.”
Then, out of nowhere, a freak wave appeared and pushed them to shore.
In the interim, Levi had run to a nearby house to seek help, while Drico gave Joshua moral support by shouting words of encouragement from the shore.
The wave washed them onto a group of rocks, allowing Levi and Drico to help them to shore.
Joshua was exhausted when he got to shore.
He had been scratched and bruised from the rocks, and it was physically impossible for him to go back into the ocean to rescue the second person.
“I do believe it was the power of God that sent that big wave to save me as I was so tired from swimming, my body felt paralysed,” said Joshua.
Meanwhile, the 18-year-old was still trying to keep himself afloat out at sea.
Brendon said the saddest aspect of this incident is that nobody standing on the beach jumped into the water to help save the teen who was struggling in the water.
Glen Preston of Med-Evac said Med-Evac attended the scene, together with NSRI and Saps Search and Rescue.
“The boy went under the water before emergency services arrived,” said Glen.
The teen’s body was found at Southport beach on January 2.
Brendon said Joshua was extremely brave to risk his life to save the child.
“All three would have drowned that day, but God laid his hands on my eldest son. I am so proud of my three boys and how they went the extra mile to help,” he added.
Remarkably, Joshua lives in Tzaneen in Limpopo and attends Merensky High School, and as a result, only swims in the ocean when he occasionally visits the coast.
The Botes family send their condolences to the family and urged beachgoers to assist in a drowning incident.
“If someone had just jumped into the water to help, the 18-year-old would be alive today,” he said.
* If you are ever in the position to pull someone out of the water, do the following: Swim out to the person and ask them to rotate onto their back, facing away from you. Position yourself behind them and place their head on your shoulder, then use your arms to support them under their armpits and proceed to move them to safety using either survival backstroke or sidestroke.
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