Sackville Ski Gardens: Teen swimmer pulled from Hawkesbury River dies

A teen boy who died after being pulled unresponsive from the Hawkesbury River has been mourned on social media.

An unresponsive teenager has been pulled out of the Hawkesbury River at Sackville SKI Gardens. Picture: Google/Levi Webb

A teenager has died after being pulled from the water of the Hawkesbury River on Monday.

The 16-year-old was swimming in the river at caravan park Sackville Gardens Ski Park on Tizzana Rd, Sackville at 12.20pm on Monday when he was found in the water unresponsive.

Bystanders performed CPR on the boy before paramedics arrived and airlifted him to Westmead Hospital in a critical condition, where he later died on Tuesday.

The boy’s death follows a spate of drownings across the state, with six other deaths in the past eight days, including three rock fishermen swept off a rock at Port Kembla and a snorkeller at North Narrabeen beach.

Retired police officer Shane Earl performed CPR on the teen.

Police are investigating the 16-year-old’s death further and a report will be prepared for the coroner.

The owners of Sackville Gardens Ski Park released a statement on social media from the boy’s family, mourning his death.

“It is with much sadness that we let you know that the young man who was involved in the incident yesterday passed away surrounded by his family,” the statement read.

“We wish to thank everyone who helped and worked on him. We are forever grateful and for now we just need to grieve.”

Sackville Ski Gardens park manager Shane Earl said he and a retired police officer performed CPR on the boy shortly after he was pulled out of the water.

“One of the park tenants came to us at the kiosk asking if we had a defibrillator,” he said.

“I went up to the site where I was met with a boy on the deck with a retired policeman, and we commenced CPR on the boy.

“We continued doing that until someone brought down a defibrillator from the local cafe around the corner, Tractor 828.”

The Hawkesbury River at Sackville is a popular waterskiing spot.

Mr Earl said the ambulance arrived quickly given how isolated the park was.

“I thought it would be a lot longer due to where we are, but if it was 20-25 minutes, I wouldn’t be surprised,” he said.

“It was really good to see them.”

Mr Earl said the incident highlighted why basic first-aid training was important.

“It’s amazing how taxing doing CPR is,” he said.

“(The policeman) was doing chest compressions, I was controlling the airways, but there were other people in the park who took over and did chest compression for a while.

“I must reiterate to everybody to do first-aid training no matter who you are. The people there on site acted quickly, and if the boy pulls through, it’ll be because of the actions of those people who started CPR very early.”

There is still no indication as to how long the boy, described as in his “early teens”, was under the water, or the cause of the incident.

Hawkesbury councillor Nathan Zamprogno said the council, Royal Life Saving Society, Surf Life Saving and Hawkesbury SES introduced a water safety awareness campaign featuring a multiple languages in December.

He said 10 lives had been lost on the river over the past five years.

“It happens far too much,’’ he said.

Hawkesbury state Liberal MP Robyn Preston said more education needed to be undertaken about swimming in rivers.

She said, unlike the beach where there were flags and apps such as Beachwatch that alerted swimmers to potential dangers, information was lacking on rivers such as the Hawkesbury.

“This is tragic and often mostly it’s people not knowing the area and that there’s under currents and rips,’’ she said.

“If you turn up to the Hawkesbury River, it’s pot luck whether it’s safe or not.

“It lures people in with a false sense of security.

“It’s been so hot so people are lured to the waterway and it has a quiet worry of what lies beneath.’’