Human chain saves New Zealand boy in rough seas

BRAVE beachgoers formed a human chain to save the life of a New Zealand boy who'd been swept out to sea.

Beach

A NEW Zealand boy owes his life to a group of brave beachgoers who formed a human chain to pull the stricken child from powerful waves.

Joshua McQuoid, 12, was caught by a wave and swept out while playing with friends at the beach on Marine Parade in Napier late yesterday afternoon.

Footage caught by a young bystander showed beachgoers, led by a German tourist, and police officers trying frantically to pull the boy from heavy surf but with no success.

Eventually, enough people joined in the rescue to form a 12-strong human chain that broke repeatedly and quickly reformed until Joshua was inched clear of the break.

Unresponsive and floppy, the boy came to only after members of the public gave him first aid on the beach. He was taken to hospital but was later discharged.

An unnamed bystander told police he'd been watching the boys "playing chicken" with the waves and grew increasingly concerned.

"It seemed the kids were local and would know how dangerous the sea there is, but that was not stopping them," he wrote in a statement released by police.

When one was washed out, the beachgoer called emergency services as others tried desperately to pull him from the pounding waves.

The man praised a lone policeman who "arrived super quick and didn't even hesitate to get in the water, and try to rescue the boy, then there was another, who stripped off and went into the sea too".

"The waves were so strong, it was virtually impossible to get the boy to shore, and by this stage I was worried there is going to be more than one fatality."

The human chain formed just in time to save the boy's life.