Lifeguard who rescued Princess Mary’s son Christian from Gold Coast surf speaks
HE’S the man who rescued a prince now Gold Coast lifeguard Nick Malcolm breaks his silence, saying ‘it doesn’t matter that he’s a royal’.
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PULLING the heir to the Danish throne from the Gold Coast surf was just another day at the office for lifeguard Nick Malcolm.
The tall, well-muscled and bronzed professional lifeguard broke his silence yesterday, just days after he boosted the city’s image internationally when news of the royal rescue broke.
Prince Christian, 10, was pulled from the surf at Mermaid Beach around lunchtime Thursday in front of his distressed parents, Australian-born Princess Mary, 43, and her 47-year-old husband Frederik, Crown Prince of Denmark.
As the news made headlines worldwide Mr Malcolm tried to keep a low profile.
Yesterday the red-faced lifeguard spent all morning trying to avoid the cameras.
PRINCE CHRISTIAN RESCUED FROM SURF
“He (Christian) was in between the flags in the deep part before the break and just got swept off his feet,” he reluctantly explained yesterday.
“He was a really good swimmer — it helped that he didn’t panic.
“It was just a standard rescue — doesn’t matter that he’s a royal.”
However Mr Malcolm earned a royal thank you from Prince Frederik who then took his son back into the water for another — closely supervised — swim.
The royals, who have been shopping and visiting local theme parks during their Queensland visit, were swimming between the flags when incident happened.
Mr Malcolm said he had not even realised who he had rescued.
“Someone on the beach told us afterwards (that it was the royal family),” he said.
“That day we had two similar rescues … one older guy also got swept out a bit further.”
Mr Malcolm is a champion board paddler and also volunteers as a lifesaver for the Surfers Paradise surf club.
Chief lifeguard Warren Young yesterday heaped praise on him.
“All the guys are feeling for him because his phone is going off the hook all the time,” he said.
“It’s a bit daunting for him but he’s back at work and doing what he’s good at and it all seems pretty good.
“I think he’s overwhelmed by the attention.”
Mr Young said it was a routine rescue for Gold Coast lifeguards, who are bracing for a busy time over Christmas.
“The way conditions are now, it’s really unforgiving if you swim out away from flagged areas,” he said.
“It’s such now that you can get into a rip on the side of the bank and get swept out to sea in seconds.
“When you’re not aware of it and the weather’s bad, it can become a tragedy.”
Last year, Gold Coast lifesavers became concerned about the number of unsupervised children left on beaches.
Greenmount clubbies had to rescue an 11-year-old who was struggling outside the flags while his parents were too busy at the pub to notice.