The Day I saved a Life - Scooter to the Rescue
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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Awesome stuff legend! Always good to have watermen looking out for old joe public.
The beaches here in South West OZ have very little in the way of beach patrol and i reckon theres more rescues from surfers than there is lifeguards.
Hey @scooter77 I haven't met you yet but seen you chatting about this earlier in the #teamaustralia channel. The surf has also picked up here. I'm Near Yeppoon, QLD and as you probally know most of the gnarly waves break from the reef before It even hits the shores. So this weekend has been the best surf in years from what the locals are saying.
Well done sir! But pretty unbelievable that the guy did not thank you... what is going through someone's head you wonder sometimes!
Yeah. Shock and probably didn't speak English either. I've seen a few people do that through embarrassement or shock.
Most likely your right. But if someone saved my life I'd be back at that beach with a case full of goodies for them!
I used to be a life saver on the weekends back in the day here at Caloundra, we didn’t do to many rescues as our beach at Moffat is very calm, definitely not a surfing spot. But around the corner at Kings beach I have seen a few rescues, lots of people don’t say thank you. Mostly I think out of shock. It’s a very confronting situation to nearly drown.
I like that you were not bothered by it.
Good deed done for the week!
Thanks for sharing, that act of kindness alone, saving someone. Well done
Great story and photos! Thanks @journeyfreedom
Thats pretty cool @scooter77! As a medicine student, I can tell how hard it is to act when someones life is in danger... Thank god some of us were provided with the skill of not panicking hahaha. Anyways, well done ! Great life experience ! Greetings from Venezuela :)
Btw, I should definitely try surfing haha
Man u saved a life. Saving one life is equivalent to saving the humanity. You did a great job without thinking of yourself. Keep up the good work @scooter77
It's a pretty dangerous job trying to rescue a dying man, especially inside water. He latches on to anything he can find, and in panic doesn't realise he's killing his saver.
Happy to read you rescued him and happier no fatality happened. Quite an enlivening and exciting encounter.
Thanks for sharing.
the places I want to go.