Collaroy: Surfer drowns after being pulled unconscious from big swell

A man has drowned at Collaroy Beach, on Sydney’s northern beaches, amid witness accounts he was dragged under a large stormwater pipe during wild surf conditions.

A man, aged about 40, was pulled unconscious from the massive surf at Collaroy Beach, after being knocked from his surfboard and being pushed under a large stormwater pipe by the large swell. He was rushed to hospital, under police escort, in a critical condition. Picture John Grainger

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A surfer has drowned after he was found unconscious in the water during a huge swell off Collaroy Beach..

A man was rushed to hospital after witnesses said he was trapped under a stormwater pipe for several minutes.

A man, 44, was seen struggling in the massive swell just north of Collaroy Surf Life Saving Club when he came off his board. Witnesses said he was dragged under a large stormwater pipe about 12.40pm.

A young man who witnessed the man go under and not come back to the surface, raced out on to the pipe.

Witness Leigh Copping said the man searched for a sign of the surfer for several moments.

“Then the surfer popped up,” Ms Copping, of Collaroy Plateau said. “The guy, who was fully clothed, jumped off the pipe and started swimming the surfer back to the beach.”

Police recover the surfboard belonging to the surfer who was taken unconscious from the surf at Collaroy Beach today. Picture John Grainger

Another witness, Carol Chaffer, said as the man started swimming back to the beach with the surfer, and a woman jumped in to the surf to help.

“Then they both just dragged him out onto the sand.”

Ms Chaffer, from Warriewood and a volunteer surf lifesaver at the Collaroy club, had grabbed a yellow surf rescue tube and handed it to the man who went on to the stormwater pipe.

She was at the beach with her son Sam to look at the big surf.

Sam Chaffer, 12, of Warriewood, who alerted his mum Carol Chaffer about the surfer who had gone missing near the stormwater pipe at Collaroy Beach. Picture John Grainger

Sam, 12, who is a Nipper at Collaroy, also saw the surfer, who he said was struggling to control his board, go under the pipe and alerted his mum.

“After almost two minutes he popped up to the left of the storm water pipe. But he was still connected to his surfboard by the leg rope,” Ms Chaffer said.

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

A man and a woman jumped into the large surf at Collaroy beach to rescue an unconscious surfer as more members of the public wait on the beach to start CPR. Exclusive picture: John Grainger

“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.

“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.

Police confirmed late this afternoon that the man had died.

This unidentified woman jumped into the surf, with another man, to bring the unconscious surfer to the beach. Picture John Grainger

Carol Chaffer, of Warriewood, helped carry the unconscious surfer from the beach and aided, along with several others, in administering CPR before ambulance paramedics and a CareFlight emergency doctor took over. Picture John Grainger

Steven Pearce, CEO of Surf Life Saving NSW, praised Sam for raising the alarm when he saw the surfer in distress and his mother for co-ordinating the surfer’s rescue and beginning CPR.

A NSW Ambulance spokesman said four crews were sent to the scene along with the CareFlight emergency helicopter, which landed at nearby Long Reef Golf Course.

The man was rushed by ambulance, under a police escort, to Royal North Shore Hospital in a critical condition.

This afternoon police said the identity of the man had been established and they were getting in touch with his family.