this guy showed more bravery that many people and paid the ultimate price for saving a life. Sad yet his bravery is an inspiration
http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/Student-dies-after-saving-boy-20100509
Nicolize van der Walt, Beeld
Klerksdorp - A PUK student drowned on Sunday after saving a 14-year-old boy from the turbulent waters of a flooded spruit on a golf course.
"Tannie, I'm really, really sorry. I didn't mean that this should happen," the boy told the parents of Michael Janse van Rensburg, 18, at the scene.
Janse van Rensburg, a first-year accounting student at the North West University's Potchefstroom campus, had treated his mother, Driekie, to a Mother's Day breakfast in bed on Sunday morning before going to play golf.
The 14-year-old boy, whose name is being withheld according to his parents' wishes, had gone to the Klerksdorp golf course with a friend to play with a homemade soapbox cart when he fell in the water. He screamed for help.
Janse van Rensburg, who was on a green nearby, jumped into the water to save the boy. He was able to bring the boy to safety, but then disappeared beneath the churning water.
His parents, friends, family members and many bystanders spent hours standing next to the Schoonspruit while rescue workers searched for him. Throughout the rescue attempt, everyone clung to the hope that he was still alive.
"I think I should call home. Just to make sure. What if he's already there and doesn't realise everyone's looking for him?" said his heartbroken mother, a primary school teacher at Stilfontein, on Sunday afternoon.
His father, Dawie, a legal advisor with the South African National Defence Force, stood frozen, staring at the water for a long time.
Michael's friends from his school days at Wesvalia High School waited on the golf course for hours. Some had been there since before midday, waiting for news.
On Sunday night, after Michael's body was discovered, they gathered at a local restaurant to commemorate their friend's life.
Michael's two younger brothers, Dawie jnr and Jaco, also stood next to the water, waiting and hoping. They hugged their mother from time to time.
Just after 18:00, when it was already dark, rescue workers brought their son's body out of the water just a stone's throw from where he disappeared. While they watched, the Janse van Rensburg couple held each other tightly.
People gathered in small groups holding each other. Every now and then a sob would cut through the silence.
Fanie du Plooy, a Dutch Reformed Church minister at Stilfontein, put his arms around the family and prayed for them while the body of their son and brother lay a few meters away in a white body bag. Du Plooy labelled Michael a hero.
The 14-year-old's parents, who said they didn't "know how to look people in the eye", conveyed their condolences to the Janse van Rensburg family.
"There's nothing to apologise for. It was an accident," Dawie snr said to the emotional couple.
http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/Student-dies-after-saving-boy-20100509
Nicolize van der Walt, Beeld
Klerksdorp - A PUK student drowned on Sunday after saving a 14-year-old boy from the turbulent waters of a flooded spruit on a golf course.
"Tannie, I'm really, really sorry. I didn't mean that this should happen," the boy told the parents of Michael Janse van Rensburg, 18, at the scene.
Janse van Rensburg, a first-year accounting student at the North West University's Potchefstroom campus, had treated his mother, Driekie, to a Mother's Day breakfast in bed on Sunday morning before going to play golf.
The 14-year-old boy, whose name is being withheld according to his parents' wishes, had gone to the Klerksdorp golf course with a friend to play with a homemade soapbox cart when he fell in the water. He screamed for help.
Janse van Rensburg, who was on a green nearby, jumped into the water to save the boy. He was able to bring the boy to safety, but then disappeared beneath the churning water.
His parents, friends, family members and many bystanders spent hours standing next to the Schoonspruit while rescue workers searched for him. Throughout the rescue attempt, everyone clung to the hope that he was still alive.
"I think I should call home. Just to make sure. What if he's already there and doesn't realise everyone's looking for him?" said his heartbroken mother, a primary school teacher at Stilfontein, on Sunday afternoon.
His father, Dawie, a legal advisor with the South African National Defence Force, stood frozen, staring at the water for a long time.
Michael's friends from his school days at Wesvalia High School waited on the golf course for hours. Some had been there since before midday, waiting for news.
On Sunday night, after Michael's body was discovered, they gathered at a local restaurant to commemorate their friend's life.
Michael's two younger brothers, Dawie jnr and Jaco, also stood next to the water, waiting and hoping. They hugged their mother from time to time.
Just after 18:00, when it was already dark, rescue workers brought their son's body out of the water just a stone's throw from where he disappeared. While they watched, the Janse van Rensburg couple held each other tightly.
People gathered in small groups holding each other. Every now and then a sob would cut through the silence.
Fanie du Plooy, a Dutch Reformed Church minister at Stilfontein, put his arms around the family and prayed for them while the body of their son and brother lay a few meters away in a white body bag. Du Plooy labelled Michael a hero.
The 14-year-old's parents, who said they didn't "know how to look people in the eye", conveyed their condolences to the Janse van Rensburg family.
"There's nothing to apologise for. It was an accident," Dawie snr said to the emotional couple.
