On Sunday 21/1/2024 at 7.30pm, off duty lifeguard Mikey Waldegrave was alerted to 2 people caught in a rip North of the carpark at Sunset Beach. He saw a hand go up and heard a scream for help. Mikey grabbed two rescue tubes and ran down to the beach. He swam out and rescued the two swimmers.
On shore, he was assisted by two other lifeguards, Emily Tusa and Alex de Latour who had prepared the ATV and medical equipment. The patients were assessed. One patient was critical with exhaustion and breathing problems which required oxygen. She had also taken in some water. Lifeguards Emily Tusa and Carolyn Edwards assisted with medical care, surfcom was alerted and an ambulance dispatched.
While lifeguards attended the patients and waited for the ambulance, Mikey continued to warn people not to swim and said there were two more incidents where swimmers managed to get themselves out of trouble. People seemed unaware of the rips and were swimming in a dangerous area of the beach. Mikey said, ‘People had not left the beach for the day and there were swimmers right up till dark, some of them taking a big risk’. ‘At the time of the rescue there were about 25 swimmers in the water, 50-60 people on the beach and 40 in the carpark’.
Mikey had been on patrol all day and said it had been a tough day with lifeguards continually in the water keeping swimmers between the flags. Big thanks to lifeguards like Mikey and the call out squad who volunteer long hours to help keep our beach safe and go the extra mile to make sure families get to have their loved ones make it home.
