Spy Dude
March 2009
Young lifeguard single-handedly saves five
March 03 2009 at 02:47PM
By Leila Samodien
A teenage lifeguard has emerged a hero after saving the lives of five people almost single-handedly in an exhausting afternoon at the treacherous Danger Beach near St James.
Che Newman, 18, was the only lifeguard on duty at the beach on Sunday.
Newman, of Muizenberg, said there had been overspill from St James's Beach, which is right next to Danger Beach. This meant the beach was more crowded than usual.
Around noon, the unpredictable sea laid claim to its first potential victim of the day. Newman rescued him easily but then, an hour and a half later, was back in the water to make the most difficult save he has ever had to perform in his four years as a professional lifeguard.
A man in his late 20s was pulled out almost 100m to sea by the strong rip-currents.
Newman swam out to the man and asked two surfer friends to take him back on their bodyboards.
He then faced having to get back safely himself: "It was the toughest rescue I've ever done," he said.
On the way back, he started bleeding after scraping his right shoulder and arm on a rock.
He said he was careful to swim to shore with the currents.
Danger Beach, unlike most shorelines, has two currents; one swirling around a big rock near the beach, and another moving out towards the ocean.
After Newman's second rescue, he saved another two men - one who had got into trouble, and then another who tried unsuccessfully to rescue him.
At about 4pm, he went out to rescue a boy who was in trouble in the surf.
Although the number of rescues performed by Newman is not unusual for a busy day at the beach, he was alone rather than having the standard one or two colleagues to back him up.
