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Thanks to help from Kouga Municipality’s lifeguards and their amphibious wheelchair, Shaun Viljoen was recently baptised in the sea at Jeffreys Bay Main Beach.
The amphibious wheelchair is used to assist people with limited mobility to travel across the sea sand and enjoy the water.
Viljoen, a member of Volle Evangelie in Jeffreys Bay, said that he only recently learnt about the specialised wheelchair at Main Beach, when he was informed about it by a friend.
Since he is wheelchair-bound, and not able to use his own wheelchair to traverse the sand to get to the water, learning about the amphibious wheelchair allowed him to plan his baptism at Main Beach.
Viljoen then followed up with the municipality who were very accommodating and keen to assist with the arrangements of his baptism.
Finally, on 29 January he was baptised at Main Beach by Pastor Jurgens Myburg, with assistance from lifeguards who helped him get to the sea while he sat in the amphibious wheelchair.
“This was the first time I used the specialised wheelchair, and I would recommend it to the disabled community of Jeffreys Bay,” said Viljoen.
He said that since baptism is a very private matter, it was amazing being assisted by the local lifeguards and other congregation members.
“It was very helpful to receive assistance from the lifeguards. Without their assistance it would not have been possible for me to enter the sea,” said Viljoen.
On the same day, Viljoen’s wife Marlien was also baptised.
Local lifeguard Craig Sampson said assisting Viljoen was a different experience compared to when they had previously helped disabled members of the public, because it was the first time that he and his colleague, Angelo Faulkner, assisted during a baptism.
“Shaun was very appreciative for the assistance he received from the lifeguards, and he was joyful,” said Sampson.
He said that when elderly and wheelchair-bound individuals see the amphibious wheelchair, they are very inquisitive about the chair.
“When people with limited mobility discover that they can use the amphibious wheelchair in the water, they get very excited and want to be in the water with their family and friends,” said Sampson.
He said that since the access point of the wheelchair is the wooden platform just below the lifeguard tower, the local lifeguards often assist individuals from this point, to where the water reaches their abdomen.
Despite many wanting to enter the water, Sampson said not all wheelchair-bound individuals want to be in the water; instead some prefer to be parked at the water’s edge and relax until they are ready for the lifeguards to assist them back to the main platform.
