Today the surf is pumping on the Gold Coast in Australia. Lying off the coast is a large tropical cyclone and it is sending a huge swell onto the coast making it pretty treacherous in the surf. There have been a lot of rescue's by the lifesavers and it got me thinking about my efforts as a lifesaver a few weeks ago.
Saving a Life in the Surf
The day started out like most Saturday morning. I met a mate at the beach and we got ready to hit the surf. As we were walking down the beach, I noticed a couple of guys swimming in the water where the flags usually go. I thought nothing of it and we headed to the waters edge and started to leash up before paddling out.
It was then that I noticed that these 2 guys weren't really that good at swimming and said to my mate to keep an eye on them as they looked dangerously close to the edge of the bank they were standing on.
I looked around to see the local lifeguard pulling up and he started pulling out the flags and his other gear and wasn't paying any attention to the guys in the water.
Suddenly both of them were hit by a wave and swept off the sand bank into the deeper water of the rip. We watched them for a moment and saw that they could not swim and one seemed to be starting to go under. I rushed into the water and paddled furiously towards the one in the most trouble as quick as I could. As I got nearer, I threw my board towards him and urged him to grab onto it. He was obviously pretty distressed and scared shitless. When rescuing someone I have always known that you need to ensure they are calm before getting close as panicked people can grab onto you in a panic and then push you under. In some instances, rescuers have died trying to save people this way.
Once this guy was on the board, I swam over and paddled the board in to the shore. The whole way he didn't say a word. Once we got to the shallows, he jumped off and walked out of the water, not saying a word. By this time the lifeguard had paddled out and grabbed the other guy and was bringing him in too. He said they looked like tourists from the Middle East and they were both lucky we spotted them when we did.
I didn't expect any thanks, and after the rescue, paddled back out for a few waves. Knowing that I had done a good deed that day was all the thanks I needed.
Thanks for reading.
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