Two brothers are being praised for their bravery after rescuing an elderly stand-up paddleboarder who was caught in a rip current at Southbroom main beach on July 21.

The rescue took place at about 12:15 and was witnessed by Gerry Terblanche from Ballito, who was watching the OceanEye webcam positioned at Riptide Restaurant.

Gerry later shared the incident on Facebook in an effort to identify the boys.

“I watched as these two youngsters rescued a guy in the rip at Southbroom main beach. Not a lifeguard in sight, but thankfully these boys could paddle him sideways out of the heavy rip and into shore. If you know who they are, give them a big ‘well done’; if they’re over 18 buy them a beer,” he wrote.

Speaking to the Herald, Gerry said he watched the rescue unfold live on the webcam and initially considered calling friends in Southbroom to assist.

“I thought of calling some of my Southbroom mates to rush down there. Sadly I didn’t record anything on video and only got the pictures when the boys walked past the webcam after the rescue,” he said.

“The bigger boy jumped off the tidal pool, paddled over to the older guy clinging to his stand-up paddleboard. I assume he had lost the paddle and had no leash. The boy took off his own surfboard leash and handed it to the older guy and towed him sideways out of the rip.”

Gerry said the man then lost his stand-up paddleboard in the impact zone.

“The youngster put him on his own surfboard, then was joined by the other youngster. Together they managed to push and pull the older guy into the shallow water,” he said.

Following Gerry’s Facebook appeal, the boys were identified as local surfers Callum Pearson (15) and his brother Tom Pearson (13).

Their mother, Sue Pearson, explained that the brothers had noticed the elderly man repeatedly being pulled back into the rip while trying to retrieve his stand-up paddleboard.

“He got his board and then he got sucked into the rip again. He tried to get out of the rip, but you carry on paddling against the rip and it doesn’t really take you anywhere. Then he got knocked by another wave and his board went again. This happened a few times until he looked like he was completely done,” she said.

Sue said the family was about to leave the beach when they noticed the man back in the rip.

“At one stage he was actually standing, so we were just about to leave the beach. Then we turned around and saw him back into the rip again. He kind of lost his board momentarily and then found it again. When we looked, he looked absolutely bedraggled.”

Sue said she approached a woman on the beach who appeared to know the man.

“I don’t know if it was his partner or his wife. We asked her if she knew him and she said yes. I said to my oldest son, ‘Won’t you just go and see if he’s okay?’ He wasn’t okay. The guy was completely done.”

Callum immediately paddled out to help.

“Callum got in. He attached his leash to the guy’s board and started paddling him out of the rip. They got knocked by a wave, which took the man off his board.”

Tom then paddled out on his surfboard to assist.

“Tom came with his surfboard, put the gentleman onto his surfboard and swam, pushing him across out of the rip. That’s how they got him out,” Sue said.

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