Man walking his dog saves kayakers sucked into storm drain

A man walking his dog has saved two kayakers from drowning in Adelaide.

Kristie St John and her partner Cheryl Sieber were kayaking in the West Lakes Outlet when a current began to suck them into a metal grate.

Ms Sieber said she thought she was going to die.

Her teenage son was on the shoreline and frantically ran to Louis van der Merwe, who was walking his dog.

“I saw them clinging on and the current taking them under the grate,” he said.

“So, I had to jump in and help. They were yelling out. They were in trouble.”

Mr van der Merwe jumped in with his four-year-old Kelpie Max in tow – but then the dog also got sucked underwater.

Ms St John said she “couldn’t do anything” , fearing she was about to watch two people and a dog drown.

But Mr van der Merwe managed to get the two girls out and clung onto Max.

Soon all three were free with nothing more than a few cuts.

The women are now calling for better signage at West Lakes.

There is a rope of buoys in the water ,but they say by the time they realised what it was, it was too late.

As for their rescuer, he was thanked for saving their lives.

“But isn’t that what we do?” Mr van der Merwe said.

“People need to help each other.”