Some unsung heroes played an apparently unreported role in saving the lives of two snorkellers caught in a current off the coast of South Sound earlier this month.
Police previously said three snorkellers were swept out to sea near Sand Cay on Wednesday, 12 September. Officers said two managed to swim to shore, while a third hung onto a buoy until he was rescued.
From left, Jordan Jennings, Brett McTaggart, and Douglas J.R. Cameron stand on the South Sound beach where they rescued two snorkellers earlier this month. |
But if some surfers hadn’t seen them, the two snorkellers might never have made it to shore.
‘They were drifting across the Sand Cay,’ said Douglas ‘J.R.’ Cameron. ‘It didn’t look too good.’
A group of friends, including Mr. Cameron, Jordan Jennings, and Brett McTaggart were out surfing in the late afternoon of 12 September when they spotted two men about 300 yards off shore. Jordan, 16, said the two snorkellers appeared to be in trouble, and were shouting something the surfers couldn’t make out.
‘Four of us paddled out there, and (the snorkellers) told us what happened, (then) they sat out there for a little bit on our boards to get some rest,’ Jordan said, adding that the men said their third swimming companion had vanished.
‘Then they told us the story, we knew we had to get them in quick time,’ Jordan said.
Jordan and Mr. Cameron, 28, took one snokeller each on their surfboards and slowly brought them into shore. Mr. Cameron said it took about half an hour.
‘We had to bring them through the surf, and it wasn’t that easy,’ he said. ‘I had to let him (the snorkeller he was helping) stay on the board and then, just before the waves would crash, I had to get him off the board so that he wouldn’t get hit by the surfboard. Then I had to swim back, grab him and put him back on the board so we could go through the next wave.’
By the time everyone made it to shore, the snorkellers were exhausted and dehydrated. Nine-one-one was called, and police rescue boats went out to pick up the third man. He had apparently been clinging to the buoy for nearly an hour.
Department of Environment Chief Enforcement Officer Ladner Watler personally congratulated the surfers on their rescue efforts at Jordan’s home on Friday. He said the snorkellers were very lucky to have made it to shore.
‘They (the snorkellers) couldn’t have picked a worse place,’ Mr. Walter said. ‘They had the reef between them and shore.’
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