Collaroy: Man who drowned in big swell started surfing two years ago

The 44-year-old north shore man who drowned at Collaroy Beach had taken up surfing just two years ago.

Police recover the surfboard belonging to a 44-year-old man from Sydney’s Upper North Shore who drowned at Collaroy Beach on Monday afternoon. His family told police he had taken up the sport two years ago. Picture John Grainger

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The middle-aged man who drowned while surfing in big seas on the northern beaches on Monday had only taken up the sport two years ago.

Family and friends told police that the man, 44, from Sydney’s Upper North Shore, travelled to the peninsula at least once a week for a surf.

Witnesses saws the man struggling to control his board in the big surf before he was swept against the southern side of the large concrete stormwater drain at Collaroy Beach. He was under water for at least two minutes. Picture John Grainger

About 12.40pm on Monday, witnesses saw the man, who lived at Normanhurst, struggling to keep control of his board as he was pummelled by the large surf at Collaroy Beach.

Minutes later the man, still attached to his board by a leg rope, was swept into the southern side of a large concrete stormwater drain that juts into the surf zone.

Sam Chaffer, 12, a Nipper at the Collaroy Surf Life Saving Club, who had seen the man struggling in the conditions, saw him disappear next to the pipe and alerted his mum Carol Chaffer, a volunteer lifesaver.

Sam Chaffer, 12, of Warriewood, who is a Nipper at the Collaroy Surf Life Saving Club, saw the surfer struggling with his board in the big seas before he disappeared under the stormwater pipe. Sam immediately alerted his mum, Carol, volunteer lifesaver. Picture John Grainger

Ms Chaffer, of Warriewood, raced to the clubhouse and grabbed a yellow flotation device and handed it to a man who rushed out on to the stormwater pipe to look for the surfer.

About two minutes later, the surfer resurfaced, facedown in the water, on the northern side of the pipe, still attached to his board.

Ms Chaffer said the man jumped into the pounding surf and grabbed the unresponsive surfer and began swimming him back towards the beach. A young woman also plunged into the rough seas. The pair undid the leg rope.

Carol Chaffer, (right) and her son Sam, talk to friends after helping in the rescue of the surfer at Collaroy Beach. Picture John Grainger

“Then they both just dragged him out onto the sand,” Ms Chaffer said.

Along with several other people she helped carry the surfer from the beach on to the promenade near the rear of The Beach Club.

“We put him in the recovery position and spent a lot of time clearing his airway because he’d obviously swallowed a lot of water and was foaming at the mouth.

The unidentified man and woman, with towels around them, who jumped into the surf to rescue the unresponsive surfer, talk to police. Picture: John Grainger

“We began CPR but we had to clear his airway regularly because he had ingested so much water. I completed about five rounds of compressions before I had to hand over to someone else,” Ms Chaffer said.

Police also helped with CPR and a defibrillator was brought from the nearby Collaroy Hotel.

They worked on the surfer until ambulance paramedics and a CareFlight doctor took over resuscitation when they arrived about 10 minutes later.

An image of the young man and woman dragging the unresponsive surfer from the waves while others wait on the beach to begin CPR. Picture John Grainger

The man was taken to Royal North Shore Hospital.

A Northern Beaches Police spokeswomen said officers had spoken to his family.

“He’s been surfing every weekend for a couple of years,” she said.

“He’s taken up the sport about two years ago.”

At 5pm last night police said the man had died and that a report was being prepared for the NSW Coroner.