‘If I make a mistake, people die’: The Aussie lifesaver with the hardest job

IN HIS red and yellow uniform, 33-year-old Simon might look like any other typical Aussie surf lifesaver. But he’s not.

St Kilda beach lifeguard Simon Lewis is heading over to Europe for one of the hardest jobs Earth. Picture: Chris Eastman

“THE buck stops with me. I’m responsible,” St Kilda lifesaver Simon Lewis says, “if I get it wrong, people can die and if I get it right, then a lot of lives can be saved.”

In his red and yellow uniform with windswept hair, 33-year-old Simon might look like any other typical Aussie surf lifesaver. But he’s not.

Simon is an international humanitarian lifeguard who is about to face the most harrowing task of his career.

In a few short hours, he’ll board a plane to Europe and complete two back-to-back volunteer lifesaving missions. The second posting will see him installed as the first Australian head of mission for a non-profit organisation (NGO) on the deadliest migration route in the world, off the coast of Libya.

Each week, thousands of desperate people attempt to cross the treacherous Mediterranean Sea in flimsy inflatable boats. According to the United Nations, more than 5000 people died trying in 2016.

Reflecting on the enormity of his upcoming task, Simon explains that at any one time, 500 stricken refugees can be transferred to the Mission Lifeline vessel he’ll be stationed on.

“We put a lot of strategies in place ... and we’ve got specialist mass rescue equipment, but the sad reality of it is that people do die.

“You’ve just got to give dignity in death. No matter what happens [and] what the outcomes are, you need to remember how you would want to be treated.

“You don’t put yourself in the sea and you don’t put yourself in a situation where you’re going to die unless it’s your single best hope of life,” he says.

Even so, Simon — who has already completed three previous missions — acknowledges the so-called “burden of rescue.”

“You can’t un-see what you’ve seen, you can’t un-smell what you’ve smelt — the smell of death, the smell of fear, the smell of vomit,” he says, “You feel extremely proud of yourself when you save someone but when you don’t … you feel a deep low. You couldn’t help them but you were right there.”

Simon Lewis (left) with his colleagues during a previous rescue mission. Picture: Kevin McElvaney

Over the last two years Simon has helped to save the lives of nearly 1,400 African and Syrian refugees as they attempted to cross the Mediterranean Sea to Greece and Italy.

Sure, he could have stayed in his comfort zone patrolling St Kilda beach and working at various local swim centres. But he didn’t. And he didn’t because he couldn’t.

“I cannot just sit by in Australia and watch people drown in Europe and not help them,” he explains.

Like so many of us, Simon saw the devastating photo of three-year-old Syrian boy Aylan Kurdi drowned and washed ashore near Bodrum in Turkey on September 2, 2015.

“I saw that dead child and the way he washed up on the beach, the position of his body [and] because of my Australian lifesaving skills, I knew that the tidal currents were strong.

“I knew how he would have died by the colour of the skin and how he would have had a very tragic death,” Simon recalls.

The picture of little Aylan Kurdi that galvanised the world. Picture: Nilufer Demir / AFP / DOGAN NEWS AGENCY

He hit Google and quickly learned that Aylan Kurdi was not alone. Thousands of people fleeing war and political unrest in their homelands were dying trying to cross to Europe.

“I thought to myself: ‘Well I know how to save people, I know how to rescue people. Why am I not at the biggest humanitarian crisis of our generation, using my skills?’”

To Simon, little Aylan Kurdi looked just like any other child at St Kilda beach — and he deserved to live.

After learning that the International Surf Lifesaving Association was looking for volunteers to assist in the European refugee crisis, Simon successfully applied. By January 2016, he was on his way to Lesbos, Greece.

Fairly rapidly, Simon made international news. Around the world, journalists reported the excruciating moment when Simon declined to take the baby of a desperate refugee woman in the middle of the Aegean Sea.

“The boat was moving and she was looking at me, piercing me with her eyes and holding her child out of the boat and saying: ‘Take my baby’.”

“I wanted to take the baby but I couldn’t because under international law, it would have been classed as people smuggling. The boat was not in distress. It hadn’t stopped and started sinking.

“I still remember the look on her face and just breaking her heart … that sticks in my head a lot,” Simon confesses.

Simon serving food to a rescued refugee girl on MV Aquarius. Picture: Kevin McElvaney

Although Simon is listed as one of three Victorian Local Hero of the Year 2017 finalists, he’s not searching for recognition: “I get my thank you from the people we save. They look you in the eyes [and] that’s the best reward and the moment that I’m the most proud of.”

Although Simon’s next mission is big one, he’s focused on staying grounded.

“I am anxious, but I know I can handle it because I did a previous mission with SOS Mediterranee’s MV Aquarius ship patrol in January this year. I’ll be applying their search and rescue skills and transferring those professional skills to a new NGO.

“Priority number one is myself being an active lifeguard, number two is my boat or my equipment and number three is the victim. So if I take myself out, no one gets saved. You’ve got to have that situational awareness and sometimes you can’t help everyone,” he says.

You can donate to Simon’s GoFundMe campaign.

Ginger Gorman is an award-winning print and radio journalist. Follow her on Twitter @GingerGorman or support her work on Patreon.