NSRI – Gansbaai – Saturday, 31 October. A man assisted following his sea-kayak capsizing:

Mark McLagan, NSRI Hermanus coxswain, said: At 07h00, Saturday, 31 October, NSRI Hermanus duty crew were activated following reports from a local Core Tactical security officer of a man appearing to be adrift in the water at his fishing sea-kayak offshore of Franskraal, near to Gansbaai.

Our duty crew dispatched our NSRI rescue vehicle towing our NSRI rescue craft JetRIB that was launched at Kleinbaai while NSRI rescue swimmers continued to respond in the rescue vehicle to Franskraal.

CMC (Critical Medical Care) ambulance service were activated.

On arrival on the scene the local 66 year old fisherman had managed to get to shore assisted by a local man, a Good Samaritan, on his sea-kayak.

NSRI medics and a paramedic medically assessed the man who was hypothermic and displaying signs of non-fatal drowning.

DFFE (Department of Forestry, Fisheries and Environment) officers were onscene to assist.

Prior to CMC ambulance arriving on the scene the man indicated that he was feeling fine and he went home.

It appears that the man had capsized while fishing from his sea-kayak and he had been in the water for at least an hour, unable to raise the alarm, before being spotted by the security guard and then assisted by the Good Samaritan fellow fisherman.

The security guard and the Good Samaritan fisherman are commended for their assistance.

NSRI are appealing to paddlers, sailors and boaters to download and use the NSRI SafeTRX smart phone application.

-ENDS-