QUICK THINKING SAVES A LIFE

Reghard Vorster is honoured by Sea Rescue for saving the life of a young girl at a campsite swimming pool. By Andrew Ingram SAVES A LIFE Quick thinking

IN MID-FEBRUARY THIS YEAR, 14-year-old Reghard Vorster was presented with a Sea Rescue Bronze Class Gallantry Award signed by the chairman of the Sea Rescue board. It is extremely rare for such a prestigious award to be presented, and especially to someone so young. The citation below explains Reghard’s remarkable rescue of a young girl from the bottom of a swimming pool. The fact that he was able to consider the sequence of events and get himself and the lifeless body of the girl safely from the pool is testament to an extremely determined and clear-thinking young man.

Reghard Vorster knew exactly what to do when he saw a girl in trouble in the water.

Paramedic Natasha Kriel with Reghard.

The Bronze Class Gallantry Award was presented to Reghard Vorster for his courageous actions at approximately 17h30 on 27 September 2019, when he found a 10-year-old girl unconscious at the bottom of a 2-metre deep swimming pool.

That afternoon, Reghard, 14, was at the Ou Skip caravan park swimming pool. He was enjoying the last evening of his family’s holiday at the resort, before they would travel back to their home in Middelburg early on Sunday morning. Reghard had seen a young girl playing in the pool and when he left to go to the shallower children’s pool he noticed that she was pulling herself hand over hand along the edge of the deep swimming pool. A few minutes later Reghard returned to the deep pool and saw the girl at the bottom in approximately two metres of water. His first thought was that she was practising holding her breath. But he quickly realised that this was not the case and that she was in fact drowning.

Reghard had to assess the situation rapidly. He decided there was no time to waste and dived into the pool. Pulling the child to the surface, Reghard swam her lifeless body to the closest steel ladder. He was alone with the young girl and had to devise a way of getting her out of the water without any help. He locked his legs around the ladder and pulled her toward him. Using the leverage of his legs wrapped around the ladder, Reghard managed to pull her over his chest and then pushed her out of the pool. This manoeuvre required complex problem solving and substantial strength.

Reghard then climbed out of the pool himself and started bystander CPR on her as he had been taught at extracurricular Land Service lessons. At this stage a child who was also camping at Ou Skip arrived, and Reghard sent him to get help. One of the first adults to arrive on the scene was Dr Heike Gedult, Professor of Emergency Medicine at Tygerberg Hospital, who happened to be at an event nearby. A short while later, Sea Rescue volunteer and paramedic Natasha Kriel arrived to help.

Both professionals say that Reghard’s quick thinking, bravery and selfless actions that day undoubtedly played a major role in saving the girl’s life. As fellow South Africans, we are proud to be able to recognise and honour Reghard’s achievement.