Cape Town - They are the unsung heroes who selflessly give their all to save the lives of others. And so it proved again during the NSRI’s daring midnight rescue on Robben Island on Tuesday.
The NSRI rescuers saved the lives of 12 fishermen from the shipwreck after the 19.6m Hout Bay fishing trawler Claremont ran aground.
NSRI spokesman Craig Lambinon told the Cape Argus: “They did unbelievably well, it was a mammoth effort - swimming, wading and hopping from rock to rock, in foul weather, pouring rain, with huge waves breaking over them - for more than an hour-and-a-half. All our rescue crews are trained to the highest standards of the NSRI - and, frankly, when you’re out there in action there is zero distinction between old and young, men and women… It’s a bunch of volunteers giving their all to save lives.”
Coralie McDonald, 38, is based at NSRI Bakoven, Camps Bay, and works in the film industry.
She said of the harrowing rescue: “You wouldn’t be human if you didn’t have fear, but it keeps you alert.”
It was her first serious rescue.
“It was incredible to see sheer fear on the faces of the people in trouble turn to such relief,” she said.
Ernesta Swanepoel, 35, is an attorney in international environmental law. She is also training to serve on the NSRI’s helicopter rescue unit.
“(We) made our way to Robben Island in incredible seas. You could not see, it was pitch black, raining and huge swells, like a washing machine,” she said.
They rigged a rescue line from the stricken ship back towards the shore. “We were in waist-deep water, my shins are smashed from the rocks… They were cold, scared, hypothermic and barefoot - but we got them all out.”
Kim Germishuys, 30, is a medical rep, a surf lifeguard at Big Bay and crews on the NSRI’s helicopter rescue unit. “Being a woman can be tougher in the training, because guys are generally stronger. But when we’re on duty… we’re all on the same level. I sprained my back… But you learn to roll with the punches.
“We’re out there with a purpose, to save people in peril - that’s just what we do,” she said.
Cape Argus