40-year-old off duty police officer saves drowning woman

A 40-year-old off duty police officer saved a woman from drowning in Heidedal, Welkom on Wednesday night, 16 February 2022.

Sargent Deon Dampies arrived at his house in Heidedal at around 20:15, and heard heard screams of a woman’s voice coming from the dark when he got off his vehicle.

The member immediately took his service pistol and ran towards the screams’ direction. He discovered the screams were from the quarry behind Heidedal Shopping Mall.

He went further until he saw the helpless woman screaming in the water. Sargent Dampies did not think twice before jumping in the water to help the woman.

The officer alleged he could not hear the victim’s scream anymore after getting in the water. He then decided to dive into dark waters and fortunately managed to pull the victim out.

Furthermore, Sargent Dampies realised the victim’s breath was shallow and decided to perform CPR until the ambulance arrived.

The +/- 20 year old victim was rushed to the nearby Hospital for medical attention and is in recovering well.