A 44-year-old man has died after being dragged under water near a submerged stormwater pipe while surfing at Collaroy Beach on Monday afternoon despite the heroics of local surf lifesavers.
Witnesses pulled the man from the water about 12.45pm and CPR was performed until emergency services arrived.
Emergency workers at Collaroy Beach on Monday. Credit:Nine News
Carol Chaffer, an off-duty member of the Collaroy SLCS, was alerted by her son Sam that the surfer had been dragged under the water and hadn’t resurfaced.
Ms Chaffer grabbed a yellow surf rescue tube and handed it to a member of the public who ran out along the pipe looking for the surfer who had still not resurfaced.
“After almost two minutes he popped up to the left of the stormwater pipe. But he was still connected to his surfboard by the leg rope,” Ms Chaffer said.
“We put him in the recovery position and spent a lot of time clearing his airway because he’d obviously swallowed a lot of water and was foaming at the mouth.
Collaroy Beach on Monday morning as a damaging and hazardous surf warning was in place for Sydney's coast.Credit:Nick Moir
Ms Chaffer said she completed five rounds of CPR compressions before another person took over.
Police, paramedics and the CareFlight helicopter all arrived shortly after, and the man was taken to Royal North Shore Hospital on land, but could not be revived.
The man is now the sixth person to have drowned on the NSW coastline since the beginning of July, and the 43rd during the 2019-20 season.
Steven Pearce, chief executive of Surf Life Saving NSW, praised Sam Chaffer for raising the alarm when he saw the surfer in distress and his mother for her efforts in co-ordinating the surfer’s rescue and beginning CPR.
“Both Carol and Sam epitomise who and what our lifesavers are, no matter whether they are on patrol between the red and yellow flags or off duty. We are incredibly proud of their actions, as we are thoughtful for the family of this young man,” Mr Pearce said.
More to come
Matt Bungard is a journalist at The Sydney Morning Herald.
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2020-08-10 07:30:00Z
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