Cape Town – A father reportedly died while trying to save his 11-year-old son from drowning at south coast beach, in KwaZulu-Natal.
The son was reportedly caught in a rip current at Glenmore Beach on Wednesday, reported TimesLIVE.
The report said police who responded to the incident have since opened an inquest docket.
According to the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) station commander, Gert du Plessis, five good samaritans rescued the boy and his 38-year-old father from the surf and initiated cardiopulmonary resuscitation efforts on the father.
However, despite efforts to save the man’s life, he was declared dead by paramedics while the son received medical treatment and was transported to the hospital in a serious but stable condition, the report said.
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“It appears that the child’s father had launched into the water to assist his son who was caught in rip currents. The body of the deceased man has been taken into the care of government health Forensic Pathology Services,” the report quoted du Plessis as saying.
In September a similar incident occurred at Mnandi beach in Cape Town, where Reza Yon died trying to save three teenagers.
Yon’s actions on the day of the incident were described as a “selfless act” with his own mother hailing him a “Hero”.
His friends who were with him at the beach said “Reza just jumped into the water without thinking about his safety or looking back to see who was going to help and to me, he died as a hero,” Yon’s friend Maruwaan Watson said.
The National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) rescue craft crew spotted Yon in the mid-break surf zone, and recovered him onto the sea rescue craft. He was found to be lifeless.
“Paramedics continued with CPR on the 48-year-old local man but sadly, after all efforts to resuscitate the man were exhausted, he was declared deceased,” NSRI said in a statement.
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Compiled by Olwethu Mpeshe
