Man uses Heads of Noosa beer keg to rescue pair at Marcoola Beach

In the most Aussie of rescues, a man has used an abandoned beer keg to save a father and his four-year-old son struggling in the surf at a popular Sunshine Coast beach.

Heads of Noosa’s Lance Masterton with Matthew Neale, who rescued a father and son pair last week.

In the most Aussie of surf tales, a man has rescued a dad and young son from a dangerous rip using a beer keg.

Sunshine Coast resident Matthew Neale rescued a father and his four-year-old son struggling in the surf using a Heads of Noosa beer keg last Friday.

Mixing up the days for his bronze medallion certification training, he found himself alone at the Marcoola Surf Club at 7am.

Mr Neale wandered down to the beach.

On the way, he saw an empty beer keg that he thought would make a great letterbox.

Lance Masterton (Heads of Noosa) with Matthew Neale.

As he looked out at the water, he saw the father waving his hand in distress.

Mr Neale sprinted back to the clubhouse but found everything locked up.

He said he “just saw the keg and grabbed it”.

In a tug of war against the buoyancy of the keg being pushed back by the waves, he fought his way through the surf and his own fear.

“I’m a very weak swimmer, so I was hesitant to go in the first place, but duty called,” Mr Neale said.

“It was a lot of training and self talk, telling myself I’ve got this.”

The action occurred near the Marcoola Surf Life Saving Club.

By that point the father and son had gotten caught up in the surf again and he had lost sight of them.

The dad desperately tried to keep his son’s head above water.

Me Neale held the keg to his chest and used it like a board, catching up to the stricken pair and they came into shore together.

Once on dry land, he said the rescue became emotional.

“We gave each other a hug and had a dad cry sort of moment,” Mr Neale said.

Meanwhile, the four-year-old was “absolutely fine” and immediately started building a sandcastle.

According to Mr Neale, the beer keg was a lifesaver as he could not have risked going in without some sort of floatation device, as his own swimming abilities would have made it too dangerous.

“Everything I learned in the past seven weeks came into play,” he said.

Half of the keg will be hung on the wall in Marcoola Surf Club with a plaque telling the story and the same will be done at the Noosa Surf Club.

Heads of Noosa co-founder Lance Masterson said he was “absolutely” stoked one of the business’s kegs played a part in the rescue.

Marcoola Surf Club has also ensured a floatation device for this exact situation in future is at the ready at all times on the beach.

Mr Neale said he was “definitely” meant to be on the beach that day or the outcome would have differed.

He also stressed swimmers should swim between the flags.

Originally published as Man uses Heads of Noosa beer keg to rescue pair at Marcoola Beach