Swimmers, sailors and even a kangaroo saved in dramatic rescues
Every visit to the beach or day on the water has the potential to turn deadly. See how these heroes saved swimmers, sailors and even wildlife.
South East
Don't miss out on the headlines from South East . Followed categories will be added to My News.
Without the quick actions of brave bystanders and dedicated first responders hundreds of Victorians wouldn’t come home from their day at the beach.
In 2020/21 life savers rescued 360 people at Victorian beaches including 102 from Lorne, 56 from Gunnamatta and 29 from Mount Martha.
The figures, released by Life Saving Victoria, also revealed that a quarter of the state’s total drownings happened at beaches.
The men and women in red and yellow aren’t the only ones making sure a day at the beach, or on the water doesn’t turn deadly.
Here are some of the more dramatic rescues from waters off Mornington Peninsula, the Surf Coast and Bass Coast.
Brave teen hailed a hero
A quip dip after a movie turned into a dramatic rescue effort for a Frankston South teen.
Jackson Smith-Hillier, 15, was hailed a hero after diving in to save a 17-year-old girl in trouble in waters about 250m from Frankston beach.
Jackson, who was a border at St Patrick’s College, Ballarat, kept the girl afloat in choppy waters for more than an hour.
He battled to keep the girl conscious in complete darkness while waiting for help after swimming out to rescue her about 9.30pm on February 10, 2014.
Help finally arrived about 10.30pm when a Frankston police officer swam out and dragged the girl back to shore.
The officer had to administer mouth-to-mouth resuscitation while still in the water after noticing the girl had stopped breathing.
He was able to revive the girl before she again lost consciousness near the shore.
Police continued to administer CPR on the beach until paramedics arrived.
The girl was taken to Frankston Hospital for treatment and released the following day.
Jackson was able to swim back to the shore unassisted.
Frankston police chief Inspector Bruce Wemyss praised the actions of the police constable and Jackson, as well as those of a second member of the public who had also swum out to try to help the girl.
“This situation could have ended tragically if not for the initial actions of the two males,” he said.
“I also commend the efforts of the responding police officer who, knowing time was of the essence, entered the water immediately with risk to his own safety in order to protect a life.”
Cops hop to it
Mornington Peninsula police officers stunned onlookers when they dived into the waves to save a drowning kangaroo.
Sergeant Christopher Russo and Senior Sergeant Kirby Tonkin even performed chest compressions on the roo after dragging it from waters off Safety Beach.
The drama began when police responded to calls that a kangaroo was in distress about 5pm on October 27, 2018.
They arrived to find the stricken animal in the arms of local residents.
“He had already been in the water and was exhausted to the point he was lying down with members of the public,” Sgt Russo said.
“He regained some strength and stood up and we didn’t want him to go anywhere but he turned around and jumped straight into the water.”
The quick-thinking officers stripped down and charged into the water after the stricken animal.
“He had less than a minute … he went under and as he came up you could see foam coming out of his nose, he was drowning,” Sgt Russo said.
“I grabbed his tail and Kirby cradled his head and dragged him onto the beach and cleared his lungs to get the water out of him.
“Then we just started to push on his chest and he started breathing again and I could feel a heartbeat.”
Snr Sgt Tonkin said the roo was taken back to nearby Rosebud police station and put in a cell to rest before wildlife services arrived.
“It is always a good feeling, I know it’s a kangaroo but every life is worth saving and we just did what we could,” he said.
Family swept off rocks
An off-duty lifesaver and a brave bystander were hailed as heroes after leaping into treacherous surf to help four females swept off rocks on the Mornington Peninsula.
The waves claimed the life of one of the women, mum Aida Hamed, and police said if it were not for the courage of an off duty life saver and another beach goer, more lives would have been lost.
Mornington Peninsula Local Area Commander Inspector Janene Denton said Chris Perrott, a 24-year-old off-duty lifesaver from Torquay and a 48-year-old Koo Wee Rup man raced to help the women struggling in the surf at Bushrangers Bay
“They huddled the group together and kept them afloat until help arrived,” Inspector Denton said.
“If it hadn’t been for them we would have had more deaths here yesterday.”
The terrifying incident started about 3.30pm on January 13, 2021 when two large waves smashed into the group who were exploring rock pools near the water’s edge.
“None of the group were in the water at the time, and it was calm,” Inspector Denton said.
“I understand the waves came out of nowhere.”
Inspector Denton said it wasn’t clear who called for help but a rescue mission involving the Westpac Rescue Helicopter, air ambulance and a police helicopter and a police vessel was launched quickly.
Inspector Denton said the Westpac chopper winched a 47-year-old woman and her 19-year-old daughter to safety.
Her other daughter, 13, was taken to safety by the police vessel.
Paddlers plucked from ocean
Two men are lucky to be alive after they took their surf ski boards out for a paddle in treacherous conditions.
The men, who police said were experienced surf skiers, set out to paddle from Cape Paterson to Inverloch late on the afternoon of December 14, 2022.
When they made it to offshore Inverloch they attempted to get into the inlet but couldn’t navigate the tides and extremely choppy conditions.
According to local police one of the men managed to make it to an outcropping of land but there was no easy vehicle access.
The other man became lost in the waves for more than an hour.
The two men were wearing Garmin watches and police used their location services to track the mens’ location.
Police also used their night vision goggles to track the men.
Inverloch Surf Life Saving club came to assist and were able to drive one of their vehicles around the Venus Bay beach and reach the man stranded on Point Smythe.
He was assessed and taken to hospital by paramedics.
Trio saved after jet ski mishap
A police officer plunged in the waters of the Pykes Creek Reservoir, swimming more than a kilometre to rescue three people.
Acting Sergeant Sally Fairweather was driving along the Western Freeway on Sunday, December 11 when she spotted a riderless jetski doing circles on the water, and on closer inspection noticed three people stranded in the water.
She immediately launched a rescue mission, diving in and swimming about 250m in her uniform to the jet ski, which she used to take them back to shore where Ambulance Victoria was waiting.
Sgt Fairweather’s quick thinking actions saved the trio from the cold waters, amid dropping evening temperatures.
The group was wearing life jackets but unable to swim.
Sgt Fairweather was reunited on the weekend with one of the three people she saved on Sunday, December 11.
Paddlers plucked from ocean
Two men are lucky to be alive after they took their surf ski boards out for a paddle in treacherous conditions.
The men, who police said were experienced surf skiers, set out to paddle from Cape Paterson to Inverloch late on the afternoon of December 14, 2022.
When they made it to offshore Inverloch they attempted to get into the inlet but couldn’t navigate the tides and extremely choppy conditions.
According to local police one of the men managed to make it to an outcropping of land but there was no easy vehicle access.
The other man became lost in the waves for more than an hour.
The two men were wearing Garmin watches and police used their location services to track the mens’ location.
Police also used their night vision goggles to track the men.
Inverloch Surf Life Saving club came to assist and were able to drive one of their vehicles around the Venus Bay beach and reach the man stranded on Point Smythe.
He was assessed and taken to hospital by paramedics.
Tour boat to the rescue
A day out on the water didn’t go to plan after a group’s boat broke down kilometres from the South Gippsland coast.
The boat broke down 5km from Darby Beach, close to Shell Back Island, on Monday, October 3.
Police were alerted about 12.30pm.
It is believed the vessel ran out of fuel, causing it to break down.
Rising ride traps walker
A beach stroll ended in a chopper ride for a walker on the Mornington Peninsula.
An elderly man was saved from the air after he was caught out by a rising tide at Rye.
The man, 83, was walking on the sand west of Sixteenth Beach when he was trapped between two coves by high tide.
Rescue crews were alerted about 12.45am on Thursday, April 7, 2022 and the police air wing was been sent to winch the man to safety.