A UITENHAGE man’s desperate attempts to save his 12-year- old nephew from drowning in rough surf at Pollok Beach ended tragically yesterday.
Kowan Maart, who had been playing in the shallows, was pulled underwater by the strong current and washed out to sea as his uncle, who tried frantically several times to grab hold of him, was knocked over repeatedly by the waves.
Kowan is missing presumed drowned.
Just an hour earlier, another tragedy was narrowly averted when an off-duty nurse and her friends saved a 10-year-old boy, from Wells Estate in Port Elizabeth, who had been trying to swim across the Swartkops River mouth.
And at Sardinia Bay last night, the body of a Port Elizabeth man was washed ashore two hours after he got into trouble in the water while swimming with friends.
Coastal rescue experts attributed the recent surge in drownings to the rough and choppy sea conditions combined with strong rip currents and wind.
Kowan was playing in the shallows, less than 5m from his uncle, Gurson McCarthy, when the tragedy occurred.
A distraught McCarthy, 29, described his nephew’s drowning yesterday as “life-shattering”.
“I was standing in the water about 5m from him when he just went under,” McCarthy said soon after the tragedy. He was still shaking from shock.
“I tried so hard to get to him, but the waves were just too big and kept on knocking me back.
“The lifeguards saw that we were in trouble and ran into the water to assist, but Kowan was already under the water.”
The lifeguards swam around searching for Kowan for hours after he disappeared but strong currents and rough seas hampered the search.
“I am totally shattered,” McCarthy said, fighting to hold back the tears. “I tried to save him but just could not get there. It is going to haunt me.”
East Cape Coastal Rescue spokesman John Fletcher said his team, together with Summerstrand lifesavers and the National Sea Rescue Institute, launched a full-scale search for Kowan but had to call off the search two hours later, at 4pm, due to the rough sea conditions and strong currents.
“The police dive rescue unit will launch a search at 6am [today],” he said.
In the earlier incident at the Swartkops River mouth, a young boy – known only as Tuma – was miraculously brought back to life after his apparently lifeless body was pulled out of the water.
Vanessa van Rensburg, who helped pull the child out of the water, said she was fishing with friends on the sand bank at the river mouth when the incident happened.
“I saw the boy and two friends swimming across the river. When I looked again, I saw the two friends on land and the third child floating in the water.
“I did not know what to do – it happened so quickly. I ran over and grabbed the child out the water and pulled him onto the beach.
“By that time, there were a few more people around who were trying to help.”
Greenacres Hospital nurse Eliza Rothner, a friend of Van Rensburg’s, said when Tuma was pulled from the water he seemed dead.
“His pupils were dilated and there was no pulse. His entire boy was just limp,” she said.
“I started CPR and then more people rushed over to help. People were telling me that the boy was dead and to stop, but I carried on.
“The next thing, he started coughing up blood and foam and gasping for air.”
While Rothner was doing CPR on him, onlookers phoned the emergency services.
“I did CPR for about two minutes before he started coming around,” a visibly relieved Rothner said. “It was a really terrifying experience but, luckily, I am trained in CPR.”
Fletcher said when he arrived, the child was breathing and in a stable condition. He was admitted to Livingstone Hospital.
“He really owes his life to these women who managed to pull him out and save him.”
Fletcher said the child’s full particulars were unknown as he was struggling to talk.
One of the boys who swam across the river mouth with him was in a bad state of shock and went with him to the hospital. The other boy ran off.
“We know he lives in Wells Estate, that his name is Tuma and that he is 10 years old,” Fletcher said.
At 6pm, authorities received another call of a swimmer in trouble at Sardinia Bay.
“We sent our swimmers into the sea and searched for the man for about an hour before calling the operation off,” Fletcher said.
“At 7.30pm, we were alerted by a member of the public that the body had washed ashore further along the beach.”
The man was identified by police as Siyabonga Steerman, 23, from Walmer Township.
Fletcher warned parents to be extra vigilant when taking children to the beach.
“It is vital that parents keep a watchful eye on them,” he said.
“With the hot weather, the beaches are busy and it is difficult for lifesavers to keep an eye on everyone. Parents and guardians must keep their children in sight at all times.”
Fletcher said there had been a strong rip current at most of the Bay’s beaches yesterday, which he said had been a contributing factor in Maart’s and Steerman’s deaths.
- The Herald Online
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