CAPE TOWN - Instead of fleeing for his life, Corné Uys, 17 and still in high school, recently braved the smoke and ferocious flames that ripped through Betty’s Bay to save 33 tortoises.
Devastating fires have engulfed the Overstrand area in the past few weeks, including Franskraal, Hermanus and Betty’s Bay, destroying homes and hectares of land.
While the Overstrand Municipality said the Betty’s Bay blaze had been contained and mop-up operations and monitoring continued, water supplies to the area remained shut off, as the pipes to the reservoir had melted.
Water tanks were moving through the streets in Betty’s Bay and surrounding affected areas to help those without water.
Corné, however, decided to brave the smog and flames to save some of the littlest animals at risk.
He posted on social media, describing parts of Hermanus as a “burning furnace”.
“What a crazy two days it has been. People being evacuated and houses nearly burning down. We were evacuated from school because the fire came too close. As soon as I came out, myself and my dad Hugo Uys jumped into action. For the next three hours, I was in and out of the fire, rescuing tortoises and other wildlife,” he said.
Out of the hundreds at risk, Corné managed to save 33 tortoises as his dad drove up and down through the chaos of people and flames.
“Power has been off for the past two days from the fire. The fire was devastating throughout the whole mountain range and I wish I could’ve done more.
‘‘Luckily we managed to save a handful and we released them yesterday morning into the nature reserve,” Corné said.
His post elicited thousands of likes and shares, with Butterfly World Animal Sanctuary in Stellenbosch saying Corné had the brightest of futures ahead of him.
“You carry what no one could ever take away from you character, compassion and the guts to act. Thank you, from the bottom of our hearts,” the sanctuary posted.
They also offered Corné and his dad a yearly family ticket.
Meanwhile, ER24 paramedics helped various roleplayers save the life of a Cape Grysbok that had been injured in the Betty’s Bay fires.
The Winelands Fire Service found the injured animal in the mountains while battling the raging fires.
The firefighters were able to carry the buck down the mountain, where ER24 paramedics assessed it and found that it had sustained serious burns to its hooves and face, and also had a low body temperature.
“ER24 paramedics began warming the buck using hot water bottles, and gave it oral fluids. After some treatment, the buck was transported to The Country Animal Clinic to doctors Tiaan Visser, Rosali Briggeman and Andrea Rossler, who worked tirelessly around the clock to treat it.
“After some fluids and painkillers, ‘Bambi’, as it was named by its res- cuers, is recovering well,” ER24 said.