Group of surfers rescue man who collapsed while sitting on board at Mermaid Beach
A GROUP of surfers have rescued a man who collapsed while sitting on his board during a surf at a Gold Coast beach this morning.
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A GROUP of surfers have rescued a man who collapsed while sitting on his board at Mermaid Beach this morning.
Paramedics have taken the man to Gold Coast University Hospital in a critical condition After performing CPR on him.
University students Braiden Penwarn and Noah North said they were sitting 20 metres away from the man when he collapsed off his board.
They said the man was surrounded by four other surfers.
“He must have been looking bad because one of the guys asked him if he was OK and he said he was,” Mr North said.
“Then he was sitting off his board and just fell off into the water.
“They thought he might have been ducking his head under the water but he wasn’t.”
Mr North said the four men then lifted the man onto a bigger board and began swimming him into the beach.
“There were no waves and it took them a fair bit of time to get him in,” he said.
“They had to drag him up the beach.”
Mr Penwarn said the men tried to resuscitate him in the beach.
“They knew what they were doing, they were doing a good job but it wasn’t doing anything,” he said.
“They were going pretty hard but he wasn’t looking good.
“It took a fair while before the lifeguard came with the defibrillator.”
Earlier:
A MAN has been taken to Gold Coast University Hospital in a critical condition after being pulled out of the surf unconscious.
Paramedics were called to Mermaid Beach at Tamborine St to help the man.
They performed CPR on him before taking him to the hospital.
A QAS spokesman said the man was unconscious when he was dragged out of the water.
“We are doing some CPR on him,” the spokesman said.
“We are not sure if it is a medical situation at the moment.”
A man has been pulled from the surf unconscious after falling from his board at Mermaid Beach this morning. #7News pic.twitter.com/1sVZvTzaip
— Deon Savage (@DeonSav) August 6, 2018
QAS received the emergency call at 7.52am.
More to come.