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MOSSEL BAY NEWS - Craig Lambinon, spokesperson for the NSRI, reported that around 08:40 on Monday, 25 December, while NSRI lifeguards were preparing Little Brak Beach for their duty day, NSRI lifeguard squad leader, Zander Calitz, noticed a man running towards the lifeguard tower from further down the beach, about 450m from the lifeguard tower.
At that stage, there were lifeguards in the water testing for rip currents and checking where sandbanks had formed in the surf line. And lifeguards were establishing the safer swimming areas.
“Realising something was going on, the two lifeguards, who were in the water in front of the lifeguard tower, came out of the water and started to go down the beach towards the man to see what was wrong when we noticed, a bit further down the beach, some people carrying a man out of the surf onto the beach,” said Calitz.
"We dispatched our NSRI lifeguards, geared with an AED, oxygen, and medical equipment, and raised the alarm."
The NSRI Mossel Bay duty crew and the NSRI EOC (Emergency Operations Centre) were alerted. The Western Cape Government Health EMS, Mossel Bay Fire and Rescue services, ER24 ambulance services, and the police were activated.
Upon lifeguards' arrival on the scene, it was found that a 66-year-old local male had been in difficulty in the water and had been rescued from the water by his friend, also a local, who described to NSRI how she had managed to swim the man to the beach even though he was lifeless in the water.
It appears they had been swimming together when they may have been caught in rip currents. The friend had recounted to NSRI how they found themselves in a wave set - while still in the water the man showed no signs of life and she was able to get the man to shore where they were assisted out of the water.
The NSRI lifeguards determined that the man had no pulse or breathing. NSRI lifeguards, assisted by bystanders, initiated Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) efforts and they were joined on the scene by paramedics.
After all efforts to resuscitate the man were exhausted, he was declared deceased by paramedics.
The body of the man had been taken into the care of Government Health Forensic Pathology Services. The SAPS has opened an inquest docket. The cause of death is unclear at this stage. Condolences are conveyed to the family and friends of the deceased man.
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