NRL 2024: Penrith four-time premiership winner Jarome Luai champions water safety after his dramatic rescue at URBNSURF

If there’s one NRL superstar that knows the importance of water safety it’s Penrith’s Jarome Luai. The four-time premiership winner put grand final celebrations on hold to send western Sydney a vital message ahead of summer.

If there is one NRL superstar that knows how quickly things can turn in the water, it’s Jarome Luai.

Three months ago, Luai had to be rescued from a wave pool out at Urbnsurf during a team bonding session while in camp with the NSW Blues.

On Thursday, Luai put grand final celebrations on hold on Thursday to join Westpac Life Saver Rescue Helicopter in sending the people of Western Sydney an important message about water safety.

“Young adults especially, regardless of your ability to swim or your confidence in being in the water,” Luai said.

“It’s important to know your surroundings and to watch out for your mates. Just be humble around the water because things can change pretty drastically. Have a really safe summer, and look out for you family and each other.”

While Luai joked his “life flashed before his eyes” during the infamous Urbnsurf rescue, which left his Blues teammates in hysterics at the time, the 28-year old said water safety is no laughing matter.

NRL star Jarome Luai joined forces with the Westpac Life Saver Rescue Helicopter Service to highlight the importance of water safety. Picture: Richard Dobson

“I wasn’t there for the (safety) briefing, I didn’t know how it worked and as a bit of a joke I went and attacked it head-on,” Luai said. “It changed pretty quickly from having a bit of fun to needing to be saved by the crew.”

“So when this opportunity came up and with the incident a few months ago, I thought I was the perfect person to speak about that experience.

“Us as Australians, summer is coming up, and we love the water. So it was very important for me to speak about my experience.”

Shane Daw, general manager of the Westpac Life Saver Rescue Helicopter Service, said the 2024 drowning report revealed a worrying increase in the number of drownings among young Australians.

“We’ve seen a 16 per cent increase in 18-24 year olds drowning, so that increase is significant,” Daw said.

“They are friends, family and loved ones. The message we are putting out is that we want you to be safe this summer. Supervise children at all times near water, make sure you are swimming between the red and yellow flags and learn swim and lifesaving skills.”

After a flyover of western Sydney, Luai and the Westpac Life Saver Rescue crew landed at the star’s local junior rugby club, St Marys Saints, where hordes of young fans were on hand to hear Luai’s important message.

“A lot of respect to the crew, they told me some pretty cool stories about rescues they have done before. The teamwork and communication up there was crazy, they work well together as a team,” Luai said.

“Realising what they have done for our community, they deserve our respect.”

Originally published as NRL 2024: Penrith four-time premiership winner Jarome Luai champions water safety after his dramatic rescue at URBNSURF