Fisherman drowns, two sons saved by surfers

By Cyriel Freijser and Leanne Raymond

Despite the brave efforts of a group of surfers to save Peter Daniels from drowning after his boat capsized in five-metre swells off Kommetjie, the fisherman died shortly after being airlifted to Groote Schuur Hospital.

His two sons who were with him, Peter, 23, and Richard, 13, survived, but had hypothermia.

A surfer involved in the rescue, Alastair Schoon, of Kommetjie, said: "I kicked out of a wave - it was about one o'clock - when I saw this boat upside down. I paddled to the scene and saw (Richard) who could barely keep himself afloat.

"Lying on top of him to prevent him disappearing in the waves, I paddled him to shore."

Others, meanwhile, brought Peter safely to shore and Ted Brander, 52, also of Kommetjie, paddled out for the brothers' father.

"I saw what I thought was a piece of the boat under the water, but when I pulled it up I realised it was the body of a man. He was heavy, so I had great trouble getting and keeping him on my board. He was unconscious, foaming from the mouth. It crossed my mind I had a dead man on my board."

The surfers pulled Daniels on to a flat rock and Schoon began heart massage while Brander gave mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.

Said Schoon: "Then we got swamped by another wave. When we moved (Daniels) on to another rock the paramedics arrived and took over. After great efforts they got a pulse back."

As Daniels was being flown to hospital, his wife, Christine, thanked the surfers.

In another incident off Kommetjie on Sunday, a 35-year-old diver from Lotus River drowned.

Craig Lambinon, of the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI), said the man had been found floating in the surf by a diving companion and was brought to shore.

"Paramedics found him dead when they arrived at the beach," he said.

On Saturday, the Plettenberg Bay NSRI was called out to help a woman at the Keurboom Lagoon, Lambinon said.

Despite NSRI efforts to save her, using cardio-pulmonary resuscitation, the woman, 49, who was on holiday from Ermelo, died.

At Pacaltsdorp, a man of about 40 years old fell from the rocks while fishing, breaking ribs. The NSRI and the Vodacom NetCare 911 helicopter responded, while rescue personnel hiked to the scene and helped him to an ambulance.

The St Francis NSRI launched a rescue boat when relatives raised the alarm after four fishermen failed to return to Jeffreys Bay by 5pm.

At 8pm the men were found clinging to the upturned hull of their boat. They were not injured, but were hypothermic.