On Sunday afternoon at 15h58 Netcare 911 paramedics received a call for a drowning incident at Alkant Strand in Richards Bay. Reports from the scene indicate that a man ran into the see and tried to dive through a wave when he hit his head against a sand bank. The man did not surface and was fortunate that lifeguards witnessed the incident and managed to pull him out the water.
Paramedics arrived at the scene and found that the lifeguards had immobilised the patient on a trauma board. The 31-year-old-man was found in a critical condition with severe spinal injuries. Medics worked fervently at the scene to stabilise the patient before they transported him to a local hospital for the care that he required.