Cape Town - A swimmer who was swept out to sea by rip currents at Camps Bay beach on Wednesday was lucky to survive after a local and a body boarder came to his aid.
NSRI spokesperson Craig Lambinon in a statement said eyewitness Laila Saven, who had received training through the NSRI's WaterWise programme, had spotted the man in difficulty and contacted the Bakoven duty crew.
"A local man, aged in his 20s, went into the water to assist but he also got into difficulties. Laila was able to summons a body boarder who launched into the surf and using his floating body board he was able to rescue the man who originally got into difficulty," Lambinon said.
"We believe that the second man made it out of the surf unassisted. Bystanders waded in to help the men out of the water."
The two men were treated by community medics and were found to have suffered non-fatal drowning symptoms and exhaustion.
"Following medical treatment on the beach they both chose not to be transported to hospital and community medics advised them and their families to remain aware for secondary drowning symptoms," Lambinon said.
A carcass was confirmed to be floating offshore and to prevent it washing ashore the ports authority arranged for a boat to tow it out to sea, Lambinon said.