Durban - A man has been labelled a hero after he rescued a toddler from a car submerged in a swimming pool in Pinetown.
Good Samaritan Ntuthuko Buthelezi, 29, didn’t think twice before jumping into the pool when he heard a crashing noise, said Blue Security spokesperson Andreas Mathios.
Buthelezi was speaking to his friend on the roadside when he heard the sound of the crash.
Buthelezi rushed to the property to investigate.
A Toyota Rav 4 with three people inside, including a 2-year-old boy, was slowly sinking into a pool. All the occupants had seatbelts on.
Home owner Daniel Maritz said he thought a gas bottle had exploded. However, when he stepped onto his porch to investigate the sound, he saw the roof of the vehicle sinking into his pool.
“I am not sure how the driver crashed through my fence. I could hear a child screaming. Buthelezi was already in the water. He grabbed the child through the window and passed the child to a bystander out of the pool who stopped to assist,” Maritz said.
The pool was just over two metres deep with only the car’s roof above the water.
Buthelezi, who works in Pinetown, said he learnt to swim in the rivers of Mtubatuba in his youth.
“When I got to them they were still in shock. I had to act fast. I pulled the doors open underwater with all my might and took them out.”
He was assisted by his friend who he knew as Tom.
Mathios said Redline Response paramedics assisted the victims, who escaped the crash without sustaining any injuries.
Maritz said Buthelezi was “a great, fantastic guy with good lungs”.
“At one stage I thought he had drowned because he was underwater for some time searching for their possessions. He saved their lives, no doubt,” Maritz said.
When contacted, the owner of the car did not want to comment on the incident beyond saying she was grateful to Buthelezi for his actions.
Mathios said Buthelezi would be entered in the community hero awards for 2020. “Ordinary people doing extraordinary things,” he said.
The car was later removed from the pool by tow trucks.
Daily News