Surfer Beauyn Crew thanks Westpac Rescue Helicopter crew after being winched to safety at Redhead Beach
A teenage surfer is lucky to be alive after being swept out to sea before being rescued by a helicopter on the Central Coast. SEE THE DRAMATIC RESCUE FOOTAGE HERE.
Newcastle
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It was intense smiles, as surfer Beauyn Crew got to reunite with the man who saved his life.
NSW Ambulance Critical Care Paramedic Jeremy Veness was the winchman on the Westpac Rescue Helicopter crew that saved Mr Crews from potentially drowning at Redhead Beach on Tuesday night.
He plucked the exhausted 17-year-old from the water to deliver him safely back to land and into the hands of ground paramedics.
“I was saying thank you, saying it over and over as tears streamed down my face,” Mr Crews said.
Mr Crews went for an evening surf with buddy Will Connelly near the Bluff, but it turned into one of the most frightening moments of his life as things suddenly changed.
“Once I got out there, caught a wave and then all of a sudden the sesh sifted and the tide got heavier,” he added.
“I duck dived under a wave and then popped up and looked around and I was nearly in amongst the rocks at the Bluff and I had to ditch my board because it just kept dragging me closer and closer to the rocks.
“I swam as far away as possible and the tide just took me out and I couldn’t really do anything else, just sit around in the water and wait.”
And wait he did for around 45 minutes, as various scenarios went through his head.
“(He kept thinking) Was a boat going to come past, or if I was going to survive out there which I didn’t have much hope that I was,” he said.
“Sharks did cross my mind.”
Bobbing around 700 metres off shore, thankfully people on the Bluff spotted him and called for help.
As exhaustion quickly set in, a rush of adrenalin sent Mr Crews launching himself through the water as he waved his arms furiously into the air.
“I saw it coming over and just tears of joy running down my face,” Mr Crews said.
The Westpac Rescue Helicopter had come to save him. And it was just in time.
“I had nothing left at that point,” he said.
“I was running out of breath and I was fighting for my life just swimming around.”
Mr Veness quickly reached his patient, strapped him up and took him to safety.
“He was pretty exhausted so it was good to get there when we did,” Mr Veness said.
“Bit of an awkward time period when the lifeguards had finished and dark was approaching.
“He was pretty buggered and he was lucky in clean water, it is harder if he was in white water, the red zone we call it. It makes things difficult.
“Once the strop went over he had had enough, so needed a bit of support to keep the head out of the water, (he was) just exhausted.”
He was returned to the Redhead Beach carpark and treated by paramedics for exhaustion before being taken to John Hunter Hospital as a precaution.
“I didn’t realise (it) could go wrong so quickly. I never thought a situation like that would happen to me. I am still in a bit of shock and it hasn’t really hit me yet,” Mr Crews said.
“I was so relieved and thankful someone had come for me.”
His girlfriend Bre said she was glad to have him back in her arms again.
“I saw him getting winched up and I didn’t know he was ok. He was floppy and I was just crying and thinking the worst,” she said.
“I was thinking we can’t lose him, he’s an amazing person.”