Locals’ bravery honoured
Two courageous Georgians, Abraham (Abe) Vos and his son-inlaw Seth Barnard, were honoured for their bravery by Lifesaving South Africa on Thursday 30 August. Lifesaving SA presented the two unsung heroes with a Letter of Commendation for saving the lives of two Gauteng men at Herold’s Bay earlier this year.
The Vos and Barnard families were enjoying the good weather at Herold’s Bay beach on Valentine’s Day when they saw two men caught in a strong rip current. Realising the danger and knowing that they needed the assistance of flotation devices, they grabbed their bodyboards and the pink NSRI rescue buoy and rushed into the sea.
They reached the two men about 100m from the shoreline and told them to hang onto the bodyboards and the buoy. The rip current took all four of them further seaward where the waves eventually washed them away from the rip current and into the middle of the bay, which allowed them to swim to shore.
The two that had been saved didn’t require medical attention.
Gerald de Jager of Eden Lifesaving said that if it were not for the brave actions of Abraham and Seth, the holidaymakers would have perished in the turbulent sea. “They aren’t trained lifeguards, but they kept their cool and did everything according to the book.”
Barnard told the George Herald, “We heard distress calls coming from the sea and saw lots of activity on the beach. Without giving it a second thought we sprang into action.”
Vos said they could see the two men were panicking as they had been out at sea for a while. “As we approached them, we knew we had to calm them down. We prayed together as we were being pulled out further by the current. The current took a curve and we were suddenly in calmer water, which enabled all four of us to swim back to shore.”