‘She never swam in the ocean but drowned in it,’ says mother of seven-year-old KZN girl

Unable to afford a traditional birthday party, Hannah Chetty’s only wish was to go to the park to play on July 2. After a humble celebration with some cake, the seven-year-old girl and her family took a walk on a non-swimming beach in Umhlanga Rocks. 

The water barely reached their ankles on the shoreline when a freak wave came from nowhere and pulled them all into the water. 

Hannah tragically drowned. 

Her mother, Wendy was rescued by a courageous onlooker, while her father, Ruben, rushed in to save his children but only managed to rescue his 12-year-son and 14-year-old daughter.

Hannah slipped from her father’s grasp and drifted into deeper waters.

Emergency responders arrived at the scene and initiated resuscitation efforts for almost an hour. Sadly, their efforts were in vain. 

“I would never want this tragedy to happen to anyone. We are issuing a call for ‘no swimming’ signage boards to be more prominently visible on non-swimming beaches to warn people of the dangers,” said Wendy Chetty.

Chetty made the call on World Drowning Prevention Day on Tuesday. 

“Beachgoers should also be very cautious about being near the shoreline when there are no lifeguards around, especially during spring tide when the water is unpredictable,” she said.

Chetty told TimesLIVE Premium in the four years the family had lived in KwaZulu-Natal, they had only been to the beach three times.

“The last was in 2021, also, just for a walk. The older kids know the basics and can swim in a swimming pool. They have never swum in the sea,” she said. 

Hannah was a happy, energetic, bubbly child.

“She didn’t complain about anything and was content with whatever we managed to give her. She wasn’t demanding and she hardly ever wanted things for herself. Hannah was most well-known for her compassion. On the Sunday morning Hannah drowned, she had a few Astros and was sharing them with her family. She was down to her last one and insisted that I should have it because she knew I also love Astros.” 

“She was so precious, as is every child, she would never argue or hurt someone’s feelings to the point that if she saw someone hurting, she would burst into tears. She loved people and would always engage with random people walking past our home,” said Chetty.

Chetty is a qualified teacher, who has been unable to find a job, therefore Hannah was homeschooled with her siblings. 

“We haven’t been able to get any counselling yet. It’s expensive but we hope that we will be able to at some point. Life since Covid-19 has been extremely difficult, even necessities have become hard to come by,” she said.

The family has also launched a crowdfunding campaign on BackaBuddy to help them.

While we are still traumatised by the loss of our little girl, we would like to do our part to prevent such a tragedy from happening to others.

—  Wendy Chetty

Chetty hopes by sharing their devastating story, others may be spared from such a tragedy. 

“While we are still traumatised by the loss of our little girl, we would like to do our part to prevent such a tragedy from happening to others.” 

Meanwhile, the sports, arts and culture department, in collaboration with Lifesaving SA, observed World Drowning Prevention Day to create awareness on the scourge of drownings in the country and the world. 

“Our work with organisations like Lifesaving SA will ensure that we raise awareness of the WHO slogan ‘Anyone can drown, no-one should’.” This is to bolster the initiatives aimed at ensuring the rate of drowning is reduced with the help and work of volunteers who prevent thousands of people from drowning annually though rescues and preventive measures,” said minister Zizi Kodwa. 

He said on average 1,500 lives are lost during recreational and other activities in and around water.

“A worrying trend has been the high number of drownings during baptism ceremonies. From December 2022 to January 2023, at least 25 people drowned during baptisms. It is for this reason that Lifesaving SA has rolled out the #Watersmart programme in schools where unemployed lifeguards are trained and kitted out to teach water safety as part of life skills programmes for various school grades,” he said.

The #Watersmart facilitators, together with partners such as the Princess Charlene of Monaco Foundation and Siyasindisa Academy, also teach survival swimming to schoolchildren and communities where facilities allow.

“There is a great need for public pools which are non-operational to be opened by the municipalities to assist in rolling out these initiatives,” said Kodwa.