Homeless hero tells his tale
The homeless hero who rescued a man from drowning says everyone’s life is precious and worth preserving.
|||Cape Town - The homeless hero who rescued a man from drowning says everyone’s life is precious and worth preserving.
Thembinkosi Gqotso spoke to Weekend Argus about how he responded to a call for help from a man who nearly drowned at Queens Beach, Sea Point on Friday.
The man who was saved is recovering in hospital after suffering injuries to his head and upper body.”
He apparently slipped off rocks where he had been standing and fell into the water before being swept a few metres in. His body was tossed on to rocks.
Gqotso said he had just returned from buying items at a nearby shop when he heard a cry for help.
He looked up, but did not see anyone in the water at first. It was only after the second call that he could see the man’s head in the water.
“There were some people around including tourists and passers-by. I heard some people saying ‘He is gone.’ But I wanted to help. I did not want to be pointing and not doing anything. Life is precious,” he said.
He quickly took his shoes off but there was no time to remove a packet of chips, some cigarettes and his ID book from his pockets.
“I lost my ID. It must have slipped out of the pocket. I can get another one. If I had hesitated, that man could have been lost for good,” he said.
The athletically built Gqotso said he struggled with the man he was rescuing, whom he described as “much taller and bigger” than him.
“The sea was rough and he was pulling me; I had to pull really hard to avoid both of us drowning. Fortunately, I can swim.”
Gqotso, who turns 39 next week, grew up in Mdantsane, East London. After matriculating, he held various part-time jobs before moving to Cape Town to look for work four years ago. He and other homeless men sleep near the beach or on the rocks with their meagre possessions.
“Sometimes I work as a car guard near the Sea Point swimming pool or I do garden work or push trolleys.
“I do not want to go back home with nothing. I will find permanent work and have my own home, then I can visit my siblings,” he said.
Asked how he felt about his heroic act, he smiled and said: “Proud. I have never done anything like that before. I was not going to watch someone drown. I am glad that man is alive.”
Sunday Argus