GEORGE NEWS - The young man who saved the lives of three small children at Victoria Bay on Saturday 5 October has become a local hero.
But local surfer Michael Colyn (18), from Heather Park, takes it all in his stride. "I've done rescues before so it wasn't really a big deal, but I'm grateful that I could save them. Not everyone is that lucky," he said.
He says that he was waiting to surf with his friends when he saw something in the water. "At first I couldn't quite make out what I was seeing, until I realised it was a small hand sticking out from the water," Colyn told the George Herald.
As soon as he realised it was a person caught in a rip current, Colyn swam out to find a young child in trouble near the tidal pool. "When I reached him, he was extremely tired. He managed to hold on to me and I could get him out."
But Colyn's day of rescue didn't end there.
"About ten minutes later I saw two more small kids in trouble in the rip. I immediately jumped back in and with the help of two other surfers, I managed to get them out as well," says Colyn.
What he did find extremely worrisome was that there were no lifeguards on duty.
"It's spring and the beaches are getting busier. I really think we need lifeguards out there [Victoria Bay] over weekends."
Two weeks ago on Wednesday 25 September, a man (35) drowned and two other men were rescued from the sea at the same beach by two teenage friends, Kian Roscher and Connor Anderson.
Seasonal lifeguards to be appointed
After the drowning on 25 September, there were many questions from readers as to why there aren't any lifeguards on our beaches over weekends.
The municipality responded by saying that the process to appoint lifeguards for the festive season is being followed according to the recruitment and selection policy of the George Municipality.
George fire chief Neels Barnard said that seasonal lifeguards have not been appointed yet and the fire and rescue services, together with law enforcement officers, have been making regular patrols at the various beaches.
"Once these lifeguards have been appointed, they will only be on duty during weekends from 1 to 30 November and thereafter every day of the week from 1 December until 31 January 2020."
From 1 February until 30 April the lifeguards will be on duty only over weekends.
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