How former Manly NRL star Charlie Haggett nearly lost his own life saving a drowning kid

In an incredible story of bravery, a former Manly NRL player recalls the remarkable tale of how he nearly lost his own life saving a drowning kid.

Former Manly player Charlie Haggett saved a teenager from drowning.

He helped save a drowning teenager’s life – but then feared he could lose his own.

Former Manly star Charlie Haggett courageously rescued a distressed boy in the surf before he vanished under the water line in a dangerous rip after a sand back collapsed from under him.

Haggett, who played 175 games for Manly in all grades, including 25 NRL matches between 1986 and 1989, was at Killick Beach at Crescent Head on the NSW north coast with wife Jacki last week when a boy in the ocean started screaming for his life.

After bravely manoeuvring around a dangerous rip to save the 14-year-old, Haggett himself needed urgent help and feared the worst.

“I thought, ‘Oh s--t, I am going to be one of those statistics where someone goes in to save somebody else and they end up dying,” said Haggett, who played 10 years at Brookvale.

“I thought I was going to die myself. It was full on. Whoever was there would have done the same thing.”

Former Manly teammate Noel Cleal added: “Charlie saved the kid’s life.”

Charlie Haggett, a life-saver.

Haggett joined other beachgoers in trying to save the young man, along with three others who also found trouble in the surf.

“I was at the beach and the next thing there was a kid yelling out for help,” Haggett said. “I was trying to work out where the rip was. I went out to the sand bank and started calling him across to me.

“He started yelling, ‘Save me, save me’.

“It looked like he was going to go so I jumped in and dragged him across. It was a struggle. He was a big boy. I reckon he was 14. He was in a panic.

“I got him onto the sand bank and passed him onto another bloke that was there. I was exhausted dragging him through the water and then the bank collapsed under me and I was straight back into the rip zone.

Charlie Haggett played 25 NRL games for Manly.

“I was trying to find the bottom with my legs but couldn’t hit it. I was sucking in the big ones.

“I then thought I was going to die myself. I was buggered. I thought, ‘I’m not going to make this’. The bank was so close, about 60 metres away, but it seemed like miles away.

“It was deep where the rip was and when I fell back in, I went under the water. You’ve got to realise how powerful the water was.

“It was probably two minutes but it felt like 10 minutes. A bloke had a boogie board and he threw that to me. I was fortunate.”

Haggett, a former police superintendent, famously scored two tries against the touring Great Britain side at Brookvale in 1988.

Haggett is a former police superintendent.

He was once Manly football manager and will also assist the NSW Blues this year.

Haggett said the situation on the beach quickly became alarming.

“There actually ended up being three people in trouble,” said Haggett, Manly player number 336.

“There were four kids out there playing in the water and one of them got caught in the rip. His brother, one of the four, went to his assistance.

“There was then another bloke, I don’t know whether he was going out to help, who got dragged past those blokes in the rip.

“It was like a big team effort to help. I was one of many that went to save the kids. I didn’t speak to him afterwards. Everyone walked back to where they were and that was it. Everyone wanted to help.”

Originally published as How former Manly NRL star Charlie Haggett nearly lost his own life saving a drowning kid