Mom, son rescued from near drowning

A mother and her seven-year-old son were taken to hospital for observation after nearly drowning in Plettenberg Bay.

Plettenberg Bay - A mother and her seven-year-old son were taken to hospital for observation after nearly drowning in Plettenberg Bay.

Spokesman for the National Sea Rescue Institute Craig Lambinon said the two were swimming around an anchored houseboat in the Poortjies Lagoon by the Keurbooms River on Tuesday “when its is believed that currents dragged the seven-year-old under the boat”.

The mother tried to help the boy “but got into difficulty herself”.

Lambinon said a family visiting Plettenberg Bay and believed to be former residents, spotted the woman and her child and were able to rescue both of them before contacting NSRI for assistance.

“On arrival on the scene NSRI medics treated the mother and child for non-fatal drowning symptoms and both were transported to hospital in stable conditions by EMS ambulance for observation for secondary drowning”.

In another incident on Tuesday, Lambinon said the NSRI Port Elizabeth crew were contacted by the Transnet National Ports Authority to assist in the medical evacuation of a 30-year-old Ethiopian man, 15 nautical miles off-shore, from the container vessel Pacific Queen.

The man, believed to be suffering from malaria, was brought safely to shore after NSRI dispatched a sea rescue craft , accompanied by Eastern Cape Government Health EMS rescue paramedics.

He was transported to hospital in a stable condition.

African News Agency