I was just cued in by the Reb that the son of a mutual friend of ours is missing at sea in Australia. Zi-On, the eldest son of Mr & Mrs Kerk Choon Keng from Teluk Intan was swept off by a riptide after he successfully helped rescue a woman who was in danger of drowning. He is still missing at this moment and his parents have just left tonight for Australia.
The Kerks are long time members of Teluk Intan's Wesley Methodist Church and I remember Zi-On as a young boy and also as a strapping teenager when he was with the 1st Teluk Intan Company of The Boys' Brigade who eventually became a Sergeant in the same Company and successfully attained the President's Award in 2000.
Do keep Zi-On in your prayers and also pray that God will comfort his family in this anxious time.
News reports from the Australian media regarding the incident is included below :
Rescuer missing off Moreton Island
- The Age, 6 December 2007Concerns are growing for a man who went missing in the ocean off Queensland's Moreton Island after going to help a woman in difficulty.
Police said seven boats and three helicopters searched without success on Thursday for the man, believed to have been swept out to sea shortly before 4pm (AEST) on Wednesday.
The man, thought to be aged in his 20s, entered the water at Honeymoon Bay, on the northern tip of Moreton Island, to help the woman, a police spokesman said.
The woman eventually made it back to shore but the man, who was part of a touring group, has not been seen since.
The search would resume early Friday morning, police said.
The missing man, a 25-year-old Malaysian national, has been hailed a hero after apparently sacrificing himself to save the woman who had been caught in a rip and dragged out to sea.
Network Ten reported the pair had been part of a group of 15 students from the University of Queensland and were swimming at Honeymoon Bay on Wednesday when the woman got into difficulty.
Trevor Hassard from Tangalooma Wild Dolphin Resort on Moreton Island said the man managed to rescue the woman from the sea and move her to safety on rocks but was unable to climb to safety himself.
"In doing that, he put himself out of the reach of the rescuers," Mr Hassard told Network Ten.
"It's absolutely and completely heroic."
Fears grow for missing hero
- Brisbane Times, 6 December 2007A Malaysian student has saved a woman from drowning off south-east Queensland and likely lost his own life in the process.
Police said the 25-year-old man went missing off Moreton Island after helping a woman in difficulty shortly before 4pm (AEST) yesterday.
The pair were with a group of Malaysian students from the University of Queensland camping at Honeymoon Bay with Brisbane-based Blue Planet Tours, said Trevor Hassard from Moreton Island's Tangalooma Wild Dolphin Resort.
The group went swimming in the bay and soon found themselves caught in a rip.
"As they came out past the rocks, they were yelling and screaming,'' Mr Hassard told AAP today.
"The Malaysians who made it to the rocks leaned over and grabbed the people as they went past and they were very successful,'' he said.
"They got down to two people left, a male and a female in the water and the man was within reach.
"But he actually grabbed the female who was out of reach and pushed her towards the people who were rescuing other members of the group.
"She got pulled out of the water but in pushing her within reach, he pushed himself out of reach.
"He saved her life but it is likely that he lost his own.
"It was absolutely amazing - a totally selfless thing.''
Mr Hassard said people had been lost at Honeymoon Bay in the past. Conditions there varied so people staying at the resort were advised not to swim there."We have a policy where no one is allowed in the water past their knees at Honeymoon Bay,'' he said.
Police are talking to Blue Planet Tours to determine what happened. Its manager, Ian Stuart, said the company had been "devastated'' by yesterday's events but declined to comment further.
An air and sea search was due to resume at first light tomorrow.
If you liked this post, consider buying me some coffee. Suggested price is $1.00 for a cup and $10.00 for a 1 lbs bag (personally I am a big fan of Ethiopian Yirgacheffe).
Categories: Life
digg | spymy | facebook | del.icio.us | netscape | blogs4god
Comments (1)
James said:
Sad things happened. I was there but too far away to do anything. By the time i reached the group on the rock, nothing could have been done.
bear in mind what the papers published were not entirely accurate. I am surprised that how come none of the papers mentioned about a British guy who saved the girls
Posted on December 8, 2007 2:58 PM