Close call for men swept out to sea

by Hayley Hannan of APNZ

Jan 4 2012

A young Auckland man had a close shave with death when he was pulled, blue and barely breathing, from a rip at a Coromandel beach.

He is now in a stable condition in hospital while his swimming companion, another Auckland man, has been discharged.

The pair headed out into calm waters at Hot Water Beach for a swim about 6.30pm on Monday as the tide was going out, Hot Water Beach Lifeguard Service secretary Sandi Lowe said.

The lifeguards on duty had finished their eight-hour shift and had packed up the safety flags. Friends of the pair told Ms Lowe the men were not strong swimmers. The pair, in their 20s, got into trouble when they were swept out in a rip and signalled for help as they started slipping under the surface. A 15-year-old boy and a surfer saw the distressed pair and rescued a man each, dragging the exhausted and cold men to shore.

Ms Lowe said: “It was a close shave with death.” The worst-affected of the two men was pulled out blue, barely breathing and having ingested a large amount of water.

The second man was also exhausted and close to drowning, but not so bad, said Westpac helicopter chief paramedic Barry Watkin.

A paramedic and two doctors, who happened to be holidaying in the area and were at the beach, performed CPR on the worst-affected man.

Paramedics and the Westpac Rescue helicopter were called and the pair were flown to Auckland Hospital, one in a critical condition and the other in serious condition.

One of the men remained in a stable condition in hospital yesterday while the second man had been discharged. Mr Watkin said both men were lucky to alive. “They should have been statistics but the right people were there, and it all lined up,” he said.

The man still in hospital was still not out of the woods. He was still at risk of developing a secondary pneumonia and different infections. The men were among seven people rescued from the beach after 4pm on Monday, while another three had been rescued between 8am and 4pm, Ms Lowe said.

She said 22 people had been rescued during a busy two weeks. Unsuspecting swimmers often headed out into rips as the appeared to be calm spots in the midst of waves, she said.

Surf Lifesaving NZ Eastern club development officer Matt Williams said education was the main tool to prevent drownings, but the many signs dotted across Hot Water Beach did little to deter swimmers.

“Always swim between the flags, and if you’re not a confident swimmer, don’t go out on unpatrolled hours. If you go out in the water between the flags, we guarantee your safety and you cant do better than that,” Mr Williams said.