All in a daunting day’s work

OUR last edition included a story (‘River rescue drama’), telling of the dramatic saving of 10 youths trapped on rocks midstream in the raging Umfolozi river after a sudden cloudburst caused it to burst its banks.

Some of the potential drown victims were as young as six years old, unable to swim and fearfully clinging on to the rocks and to life itself.

Thanks to prompt communications, the KZN Emergency Medical Rescue Services team were soon on the scene, followed by a crack quartet of SAPS professionals from the Empangeni Divepoint and K9 Search & Rescue units.

The limitations of print as a medium of expression are exposed at a time like this.

The fearful sound and sight of a rampant river racing in its fury are not easily conveyed by words alone.

It must have been daunting to observe the waves of water and to contemplate entering the agitated, foaming torrent.

But these dapper policemen had not just a duty to serve, but a compassion and determination to save those stranded children. Perhaps because they have children of their own.

With no guarantee that another surge of white water might not descend upon them, the fearless foursome entered the flooded river and over the next three hours successfully rescued all the children.

While they would view this as simply ‘all in a day’s work’, the discerning public commends them for this outstanding act of bravery and service.

This is just one of hundreds of similar actions our men and women in blue perform in the course of any given year.

They attend to and confront dangerous and horrifying situations: armed killers, rotting corpses, gruesome suicides – the worst manifestations of a sick and often wicked world.

On that note, news of the nauseating attack that left 132 innocent children dead in Pakistan is a stark reminder of the depths of depravity of which mankind is capable.

There is surely not one clear-thinking person, religion or belief in the world that could justify such a horrendous act and does not utterly condemn this act.

Besides the heartache and devastation caused to families and their nation, think of those who must literally ‘pick up the pieces’ after such terror has been executed.

We surely owe a massive debt of gratitude to those whose job it is to clean up after the dregs of humanity have done their worst.

And to those who daily enter the world of danger and distaste, so that we can live our lives in relative peace and pleasantness.

Our prayers for their safety and blessing extend to their families and colleagues.