Debbie Bradley calls for Bundaberg council to increase signage at Innes Park inlet

A Bundaberg grandmother, who dived into a rip with her husband to help rescue a group of children, is calling on the council to make warning signs at the popular Innes Park inlet swimming spot more obvious.

For Bundaberg daycare workers Debbie and Michael Bradley, looking out for children is second nature.

They didn’t however expect to be needed on a day off at the beach.

Mrs Bradley told the Bundaberg NewsMail she and her husband had both been relaxing on the beach earlier this month when they noticed two boys on body boards, aged around six and seven, who had become caught in the current at the Innes Park inlet.

Their mother had been calling them back, but they couldn't make it to shore and one of the boys lost his boogie board.

Mrs Bradley said when the high tide went out at the inlet, the amount of water flowing out was huge.

At the time, there were no lifeguards on duty.

“They were both getting sucked out quite fast,” she said.

“They were screaming back ‘we can’t, we can’t (get out).”

The mother was in the water with two younger children at the time.

“The water was well overhead, he (one of the boys) was thrashing like he was gonna go under so my husband just took off and I took off too because they were both showing signs of being pretty scared by this time,” Mrs Bradley said.

“In that one instant the thought did cross me that we're not very strong swimmers - we could get caught in this too - but I wasn’t very fearful because I know what to do really well and my husband knows what to do if you get caught in a rip, how you just get out of it.”

Mr Bradley grabbed the escaping body board and gave it back to the boy and grabbed them both, swimming sideways, while Mrs Bradley grabbed one of them and helped pull them to shore.

The small warning sign that Mrs Bradley says isn’t enough to alert children or non-English speakers.

But as the woman approached the boys, the other two children somehow ended up heading towards the current.

The Bradleys asked two young men in the water to grab the children but they looked and didn't help.

That’s when Mr Bradley dived back in and the Bradleys managed to save one child each.

Mrs Bradley said the next day there were lifeguards at the beach, but looking at the signage, she was disappointed to see the size of the warning.

“It’s not enough to tell a child it’s a strong current, it’s not enough to tell someone who doesn’t speak English it’s a strong current,” she said.

Mrs Bradley called on the council to have a sign that was bigger, brighter and more descriptive, especially for children to understand.

She said anyone visiting unfamiliar beaches should ask a local where the safe swimming areas were and parents should be teaching kids to understand and swim safely out of currents.

The area of Innes Park near the inlet has claimed lives in the past, including that of a 22-year-old Korean man in 2013.

Bundaberg Regional Council was contacted for comment.