As South Africa marks Mandela Day, the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) is honouring more than 1 500 volunteers who help keep people safe in and around the water throughout the year.

This year’s Nelson Mandela International Day theme, “It Is In Your Hands”, calls on people to give 67 minutes of service in recognition of the 67 years the late former President Nelson Mandela devoted to serving others.

For the NSRI, volunteering is not limited to water rescues. It says there is a role for people of different ages and abilities, including those who prefer less physical work.

A place for everyone

“There is a place for everyone,” said Brett Ayres, chief operating officer, in one of several videos the NSRI released focusing on the volunteers in different roles.

He said people are often drawn to the organisation because of its physical activities and rescue work, although other roles also need volunteers.

“If you’re a 60-year-old pensioner living close to a rescue base there is a place for you there.”

At the Strandfontein NSRI base 57-year-old shore controller Ilhaam Adams carries out mostly administrative duties. She joined after accompanying her son to the base and being shown the operations room.

“And that’s where I’ve got stuck,” Adams said.

In the video she relates how afraid she had been of the ocean after near-drowning experiences as a child. She may not enter the water but still helps save lives from the base.

“Why do I volunteer? Well, these are people, so I help save lives. And this I can do from right here.”

Rescue experiences

TygerBurger, contacted Adams about her volunteer work and she recalled two incidents that have resonated with her since joining the NSRI. In one, at Mnandi Beach, Adams and her son found themselves in a bad situation when both were still in training; a woman came to the beach with friends “to sober up” and got caught in a riptide. Her son entered the water, managed to retrieve the woman and tried to resuscitate her, but to no avail. The woman did not survive, and Adams had the sad duty of engaging with her distraught family on the beach.

If anything, she said, it was a lasting reminder of why sea safety education is so important.

In another incident, which occurred during the busy December season, one with a happier ending, Adams assisted when a woman went into labour at the beach.

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The woman had arrived on the beach and she started feeling unwell. A friend who was with her brought her to the Strandfontein NSRI base, where she went into labour.

Rescue volunteers at the base were able to assist the woman during labour, while Adams got the emergency services on the line.

The baby arrived long before the ambulance did, and by the time the woman was taken to hospital the staff had already stabilised her.

Free skills that last a lifetime

Adams said these experiences stayed with her as a volunteer and serve her well when other emergency situations occur.

“All the training we get is free, but it is a lifelong experience, a lifelong skill.”

She said volunteers can use their training to assist people in any emergency situation, including accidents, and know whom to contact for help.

Adams, who transports learners to school when she is not volunteering, also teaches the children she drives about nautical knots and basic sea safety.

“It’s important to give back because I can make a difference in somebody else’s life.”

For her, volunteering has also created a strong sense of community at the base.

“At our base we look after one another, a connection that feels like being part of a family, and it’s phenomenal.”