‘LET’S PRETEND WE’RE ON A WATER SLIDE’ Lifeguards often have to find novel ways to help people, especially children who find themselves in trouble in the water. One lifeguard’s actions will forever be etched in the mind and heart of a little girl he helped during the December holidays. By Wendy Maritz
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VER THE 2021/22 summer season, the NSRI Lifeguard Unit and NSRI-trained municipal lifeguards had their largest ever presence on beaches around the country. Kitted in red and yellow, and based at bright gazebos with flags indicating safe swimming areas, the lifeguards busied themselves educating beachgoers, keeping an eye on people swimming and assisting those who got into difficulty. They were a welcome presence, for locals and holiday makers, many of whom noted they felt so much safer with the lifeguards on the beaches. We know this from the flood of letters NSRI Head Office received during and after the holiday season. Many of these singled out special individuals who had made a marked impression, not only by helping people in difficulty to safety, but doing so in a remarkable way. The Van der Walt family from Gauteng was on holiday in Sedgefield. It’s something they do every year, as Nadia van der 38 |
SEA RESCUE AUTUMN 2022
