WHEN the captain of the 25m fishing trawler Iron Maiden suffered a heart attack off the West Coast in May, Shakira Hartley and Ernesta Swanepoel were picked up in an Air Force Lynx helicopter at the Ysterplaat Air Force Base and lowered on to the vessel to save his life.
Grappling with strong winds aboard an aircraft, the two action women, provincial health department rescue paramedic Hartley and NSRI rescue swimmer Swanepoel, were left with pride, respect for one another’s abilities and special memories of that day they saved a life.
Years of tough training on and off boats, on aircraft and emergency rescue vehicles, all paid off for them – but not only that day. Driven by passion and courage, much of the women’s lives are spent helping save others.
Swanepoel and Hartley are among thousands of committed rescue workers in the Western Cape whose faces people see when they need them most, arriving with their emergency gear when you’re in danger, be it at sea, on a mountain, or on the road.
For the captain’s rescue, Hartley and Swanepoel left Ysterplaat at 7.40am on Saturday, May 21, flown by two air force pilots with support from a flight engineer. They spotted the trawler, en route from Brazil to Cape Town, 100 nautical miles from Ysterplaat, off shore of Saldanha Bay.
The women hoisted the ill man safely into the helicopter and Hartley attached an oxygen tank, put him on a drip and ECG monitor and gave him painkillers.
Back at Ysterplaat, they never left his side, as the captain, who hailed from Massachusetts, was helped into an ambulance waiting to take him to hospital.
“I asked him: ‘Your name is Michael, isn’t it?’ He said: ‘No, but right now I don’t care what you call me,’” Swanepoel laughed, recalling how his crew were in absolute awe that anyone was flying in to save him, never mind that they were women.
Hartley added: “We started planning at 4.30. A new aircraft... a new person… it was a strange sensation. Ernesta and I didn’t know one another, but we put our trust in each other. And I was very impressed with how hands-on she was.”
The helicopter was tiny; there were no seats, so they sat on the floor.
“We had to work out what should go where in such a small space. It was hectic to be hoisted on to the ship. There was a lot of movement in the wind. We relied on hand signs from the engineer who winched us down on a cable,” Hartley recalled.
The captain was in pain, visibly distressed and said he was afraid of heights.
“I told him: ‘Now is not the time to be scared. Close your eyes and hold onto me.’ The last thing he needed was more anxiety.”
The dramatic operation marked the first time the SA Air Force had dispatched the smaller Lynx helicopter to save someone ill at sea. They had previously used the bigger Oryx.
Swanepoel is an environmental attorney specialising in climate change, but in her spare time she’s an NSRI volunteer.
Besides being a rescue swimmer, she’s also a training officer at her base station Bakoven, where she’s on duty for a week each month. She’s also a member of the helicopter training unit.
Hartley was a dental assistant for seven years before becoming a volunteer at Western Cape Emergency Medical Services in 1999. She became a permanent EMS employee in 2005 and has attended various training courses to better her skills, including obtaining a BTech in emergency medical care.
One of Swanepoel’s biggest rescue missions involved a six-hour call when the whale-watching catamaran Miroshga capsized off Hout Bay in October 2012, resulting in the deaths of two of the 35 on board.
One woman was in shock and it was Swanepoel’s task to keep her conscious. “I took off my helmet so that she could see me. She looked like she was fading away. I shouted at her and shook her and told her: ‘We’re still going do Deco Dance (nightclub) when you come out of this.’ She came by and stayed conscious,” the rescue swimmer said.
“I’m crazy comfortable in the water. It’s the only place where I feel totally in my element.”
When they arrive back at the base after a mission, it’s time for refreshments and a hot shower.
“That’s always the best hotdog and the best coffee. You kind of come to your senses,” she said. “You operate on incredibly high levels of adrenaline. Two weeks later, you’re very tired and then you realise what you did two weeks before.”
Hartley said she often freed people using the jaws of life, or dealt with those who have fallen off mountains or been run over by trains.
Her first night rescue involved a 23-year-old woman whose car plunged off the side of a cliff at Miller’s Point. They were dropped 150m down the cliff and the rescue operation took three hours.
“We retrieved her from the rocks. Everything in her body was broken. She was a lucky girl,” said Hartley.
But regardless of the trauma, her experiences have been life-changing.
“I’ve made a lot of sacrifices since I joined EMS. I haven’t been home for Christmas for four years. I’ve showed enthusiasm and it’s helped me progress in my career.”