At 11.30am on Saturday 23/12/2023, Sunset Beach lifeguards received a call from Surf Com notifying them of a man in his 30’s with near fatal drowning and in a serious condition. He had been free diving along the coast south of Sunset Beach with two friends when two of the divers were caught out by a large set of waves which swept them off rocks. One man became tangled with his catch bag and struggled to swim. His friend tried to assist him to the boat offshore, but they were pummeled by more big sets of waves before they could get to the boat. On reaching the boat the man in his 30’s was in a critical condition, so they radioed coastguard/Ambulance for assistance. They planned to motor up to the Port Waikato Bar to cross and meet the ambulance, but his condition deteriorated rapidly. They headed back to Sunset Beach where lifeguards launched the inflatable rescue boat and met them 150m offshore where the patient was transferred to the IRB. On arrival back onshore, he was assisted by lifeguards, fire volunteers and a local doctor till ambulance and helicopter paramedics arrived. The man was very critical and had taken on a lot of water. He was airlifted to hospital.
Lifeguards say the divers made the right decision to offload the patient at Sunset Beach so he could get immediate attention. The patient was in danger of secondary drowning, a very critical condition.
Senior Lifeguard Mikey Waldergrave said it was a very tricky situation and his team handled the rescue really well. “It’s always great to see the Westpac Rescue Helicopter arrive with the paramedics to assist in these situations, you know they are going to get the best care and chance of survival.” A big thank you to the local doctor who attended and all emergency personal involved.
This was the second incident of the day, prior to this Mikey said they had already had a busy morning when they were tasked to the Port Waikato Bar at 10.30am after a fishing boat had rolled.
