Canberra Raiders star Iosia Soliola reunites with teenage saviour
After almost drowning in a training incident in 2018, Sia Soliola has reunited with the Sunshine Coast teen who saved his life.
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SIA Soliola almost gave up. Battered, beaten and spent — all screamed out — the Raiders prop let the wave take him.
He sank towards the ocean floor.
“Then I said, ‘stuff it’ and decided to give it one more crack,’’ Soliola said.
“I came up determined to swim as hard as I could. And when I pulled my head up, I saw him.’’
That “him’’ was Owen Pallister — a Sunshine Coast schoolboy who saved Soliola’s life.
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Two years after being dragged from the Mooloolaba Beach surf in an off-season training incident downplayed as a “bit of trouble’’ in 2018, the Raiders giant revealed he would be dead had it not been for the teenage lifesaver.
Reunited with Pallister when the Raiders returned to the Sunshine Coast for a pre-season training camp last week, Soliola admitted the reunion could have been a “memorial”.
“I got out there and it was really rough,” Soliola said. “I ended up being left out there on my own and I started to panic. I grabbed on to a buoy and then started thinking about sharks.
“I panicked more and tried to swim back in but got in trouble.
“I actually gave up at one stage and ended up going under. I decided I had to fight and got my head up.
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“That’s when I saw Owen. He reached out and dragged me up on to his board and to safety.’’
A slightly built 16-year-old in 2018, Pallister pulled the 110kg prop from the water and paddled him to shore.
“It was cool to catch up and see him again,” Soliola said.
“I was able to finally have a laugh about it with him. I reckon he and his lifesaving mates had a chuckle when I went back out into the water.
“But that is fine because I would rather them laugh about it than the other option because this could have been a memorial (instead of a reunion).
“I have a special bond with him now and will make sure I keep in touch.
“I will have to bring my kids up to meet him next time. He was out there in a flash, and thank God.”
Originally published as Canberra Raiders star Iosia Soliola reunites with teenage saviour