Sunshine Coast teen, Rhy North, 16, saves swimmer’s life at Noosa Groyne Beach

A Noosa 16-year-old has detailed the moment he powered through choppy and dangerous surf to reach a swimmer at a popular beach.

Sunshine Coast teen, Rhy North, 16, saves swimmer’s life at Noosa Groyne Beach

A Sunshine Coast schoolboy and popular rugby league player has detailed the moment he bravely powered through dangerous surf to save a swimmer’s life.

Rhy North, 16, of Noosa, was congratulated by onlookers at Groyne Noosa Beach after saving a young woman’s life about 6.30pm, February 13.

The teenager attends St Teresa’s Catholic College and is known for his success playing for the Noosa Pirates Rugby League Club.

A strong swimmer, he’s been surfing at Noosa and nearby beaches since he was just three years old.

Rhy had footy training at the beach that afternoon and decided to stay for a quick surf afterwards before he headed home for a family dinner.

He recalled there were a few girls swimming, in their early 20s, and another man surfing at the time.

“The water was a bit choppy and rough and I noticed a bit of a sweep and rip in the water,” he said.

“I caught a wave and as I was paddling out again a lady started yelling out to me saying her friend needed help and was getting swept out by the rip.

“I started to paddle over to where I thought the people needed help but it was two guys in the water that had tried to swim out and save the girls.”

Despite the other men’s best efforts, one of the female swimmers was still unable to get to shore and had been swept out past the wave break.

“I started to paddle back out though the rip which is where the big shore break was breaking on my head but I eventually got out past the break and started paddling as hard as I could,” Rhy said.

Rhy North. Picture: Contributed.

Rhy said through the crashing waves and swirling rip he could still just make out the girl’s hands waving for help above the water.

“As I was paddling I called out to the other surfer near the rock wall, he started to paddle over and as I got close to the girl I started to talk to her and calm her down,” he said.

“Once I got to her I got her on my board and I kept signalling out to the other surfer as I started pushing my board and swimming to shore.

“The surfer eventually met us about half way in because the girl was about 200m from the sand.”

An exhausted and adrenaline-fuelled Rhy was met with admiration back on the beach.

“The guys shook my hand and thanked me once we were all on the sand, and there was an older guy who watched it all happen,” he said.

“He came over and gave me a hug, told me he was proud of me and explained that what he’d seen had made his day.

“He told me that he had lost his partner the day before so he was very emotional but said he’d just lost a life and I just saved one.

“I just had so much adrenaline at the start and I was pretty sore afterwards.

“There was a lot going through my head and everything, just kept replaying in my mind.”

Rhy said he would love to reconnect with the people he saved that evening.

In the latest incident in a spate of tragedies on Sunshine Coast beaches, a teenage boy has suffered serious injuries after being dumped by a wave at Noosa Heads about 10am today, March 1.