Australian surfing photographer Byron Mcloughlin pulled from water unconscious at Tahiti’s Teahupo’o break
A young Sydney man, who was found with blue lips and foaming from the mouth after hitting trouble in waters off Tahiti, has opened up about his incredible rescue.
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A teenage Australian surf photographer has been pulled from the water unconscious in heavy surf at Tahiti’s Teahupo’o break – the site where the 2024 Olympics surfing contest will be held.
Sydney’s Byron Mcloughlin was pulled from the water by California photographer Ryan Craig and local bodyboarder Angelo Fararie after being found floating face down.
Mcloughlin, 19, had been shooting the day’s action from an inflatable bodyboard when he was sucked into the surf.
He took to social media on Friday morning to thank his rescuers “for saving my life”.
“I don’t remember much but I’m very grateful for everyone around me who was there on the scene and acted fast,” he said.
The two heroes waited for a break between sets to pull Mcloughlin to safety, but when they flipped him over his lips had turned blue and he was foaming at the mouth.
The young Aussie, who resides in Dee Why, was rushed to hospital and put into an induced coma.
The Australian has diced with death before after coming close to drowning two years ago in Bali.
He had been shooting for six hours Padang Padang, a world-class wave on the southern peninsula between Bingin and Uluwatu.
“I knew I was in trouble I still had no local knowledge of this place as it was my first time here. It was getting darker and darker and I decided to scream out for help,” Mcloughlin told The Inertia of the 2022 Bali incident.
At the time, two strangers – South African surfers – risked their lives and paddled out into the darkness to answer Mcloughlin’s cries for help.
“I remember panicking a lot, telling them both, we need to call for proper help — police, ambulance etc. But they kept reminding me where I was — Padang Padang — everything is on a cliff here. No one can get a boat or a jet ski down here,” the Aussie said.
“Your mindset in that situation and your ability to stay calm and collected as the beatings and hold-downs keep coming and coming … that will determine whether or not you become a statistic or simply have a harrowing story to tell the guys later on.
“As soon as you think you have Mother Ocean all figured out, she will quickly humble you and remind you that you are at her mercy entirely.”
There have been five-metre swells at Teahupo’o, where Olympic hopefuls are preparing for the competition, some 15,000km away from the French capital.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said it is “providing consular assistance to an Australian in Tahiti”.
“Owing to our privacy obligations we are unable to provide further comment,” a DFAT spokesperson said.
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Originally published as Australian surfing photographer Byron Mcloughlin pulled from water unconscious at Tahiti’s Teahupo’o break
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