Bondi lifesavers revive ‘dead’ surfer
A group of Bondi lifesavers are to be nominated to surf life saving’s governing bodies for various meritorious awards after performing a dramatic rescue last month of a 20-year-old Granville man found unconscious on the bottom of the ocean off Bondi Beach.
The man was surfing at 2.40 pm on Saturday, December 13 about 30 metres south of the patrolled area when Bondi lifesavers noticed he was in difficulty.
The joint captains of Fletcher patrol, on duty at the time, sent out one of their members to rescue the man who was found to have “vanished” before he retrieved from under about two metres of water and brought to the surface in calm surf. The unconscious man was then placed in one of the club’s inflatable rescue boats (IRBs) and returned to the beach.
Off-duty Bondi lifesaver, Marty Drennan, who was surfing in the patrolled area at the time, witnessed the IRB crew pulling the “body” from the surf.
Drennan rushed back to the beach where he was assisted by on-duty Waverley Council lifeguard and fellow Bondi lifesaver Ben Sutherland in performing CPR resuscitation on the patient.
“He had swallowed a considerable amount of water, but was breathing when we turned him on his side,” Drennan explained. “With an airbag we were able to supplement his breathing — he was unconscious for about 15 minutes.
“An ambulance took about 20 minutes to arrive and it transported him to St Vincent’s Hospital [he was discharged on Monday, December 15].”
The man is described in the Incident Reports at Bondi Surf Bathers Life Saving Club as “Alan, an Asian and Cantonese-speaking 20-year-old male from Granville”.
