Torsten Henschel, Leadership Coach and Volunteer Rescue Swimmer for the NSRI Wilderness Station 23, has been voted as the winner of the Centrum® Guardian Project 2012.

Inset: Torsten Henschel the winner of the Centrum Guardian Project 2012 flanked by from the left: Natasha MacDonald (Centrum Brand Manager), Pauli Armstrong (Enkosi), Michelle Meville-Henning (Pack 'n Stack) and Sue Cartwright (Centrum Marketing Manager). Behind him are Hennie Niehaus, Station Commander for NSRI Wilderness and Andrew Ingram, NSRI Marketing Manager. Photo supplied

On the 15 January, Torsten responded to a potential drowning of a young boy. Due to the fierce power of the rip current, several rescue attempts had failed and Torsten knew he only had one chance to reach the boy. His focus and stamina drove him to brave the water and save the 15-year-old's life. This is what led to him being nominated as one of the 16 semifinalists in this year's project.

The public voted for Torsten via SMS, the Centrum® Guardian Project website, mobisite and Facebook page. Total prize money and the proceeds from SMS votes amounting to R65 741 will be handed over to Torsten's NRSI Wilderness Base Station. In addition, Torsten has decided to donate his personal prize money of R5 000 to the Base Station as well.

Torsten and the other 15 semi-finalists were all profiled on SABC 3 in a 13-week documentary drama series called Centrum® Guardians 2012, hosted by Ruda Landman, renowned television personality and journa-list. Each semifinalist's story was recreated and then shown in the series to demonstrate to the viewers how much bravery, tenacity, strength and agility is required by Emergency Services members to perform their daily jobs.

The Centrum® Guardian Project is a social responsibility initiative that has been implemented for five consecutive years by Centrum®. It recognises and rewards the acts of courage and self-sacrifice that the people who operate in the emergency services industry demonstrate whenever they put their uniforms on and go to work each day.

Nominations for 2013 are now open. For more information or to nominate someone or a team that deserves recognition, please visit www.centrumguardian.com.