'I was at the point where I was going to let go and fall to the bottom of the ocean'

Monday, 15 January 2018

Cameron McCallum, 16, dived into the waves to rescue drowning swimmers at Waimarama.

A teenager who dived into the waves to save a couple at Waimarama beach in Hawke's Bay says he was very close to giving up and at risk of drowning himself.

Cameron McCallum, 16, was able to help save a woman, but could not prevent her husband from drowning on Sunday evening.

Police have praised efforts of the Waimarama Surf Club and members of the public after a fatal drowning in Hawke's Bay.

The dead man was named on Monday night as Hemin Vinubhai Limbachiya, 26. He, his wife and a male relative entered the water after the surf lifesavers had completed their duties.

Cameron saw them get into trouble, and dived in to help.

Surf lifesavers keep an eye on people swimming between the flag at Waimarama Beach. (File photo)

'The woman was submerged and the man was having trouble carrying her. She looked like she was already gone,' he said.

Conditions at the beach had been rough although there was not a big sea, senior Waimarama surf lifesaver Phil Harmon said. (File photo)

Cameron, who describes himself as an 'all right swimmer', stayed with them for about five minutes until a surfer came and took the woman to shore. Then he and the man trod water waiting for help.

'Altogether I was out there for about half an hour. I was just trying to get back to shore.

'We were a good 150 metres out and we were slowly drifting further out more and more.

'I was at the point where I was going to let go and fall to the bottom of the ocean.'

Eventually a surfer came to him and gave him his board to float back to shore on.

'I was trying to paddle, then I just let the waves push me until I got to my friends and they pulled me out,' he said.

'When I got to shore everything was a blur. I was dazed. The paramedics told me not to go to sleep. I swallowed quite a bit of water.

'I wouldn't call myself a hero. I wasn't thinking about it. I just went in.

The three swimmers, who are all believed to have migrated recently from India, entered the water north of the Surf Lifesaving clubrooms some time after 6.30pm.

Lifesavers had completed their duty at 5.30pm and packed up for the day by 6pm.

Senior surf lifesaver Phil Harman, who had been on duty, said the trio got in trouble in a channel about 50 metres from shore, at 6.50pm. The channel runs between the beach and a shallow sandbar.

'One of them put their hand up, which was great. Members of the public reacted. One member of the public swam out and tried to assist.

'One of the males managed to get back to the beach by themselves, and the other two and the member of the public were rescued by lifeguards and members of the public.'

He said the tide had just turned and was on its way out.

'There's a feeder current that comes along the channel, and there were a couple of rips that developed. There had been flash rips in that area all day and the public had been really good.

'If they were entering that area they listened to us and we moved them along to the flags. Unfortunately in this case it was after hours.'

Lifeguards spent 20 minutes trying to resuscitate the husband.

The woman and McCallum were treated by ambulance staff at the scene.

The woman was flown to Hawke's Bay Hospital by rescue helicopter and was in a serious condition in intensive care. By Monday afternoon her condition had improved to stable.

The death will be referred to the coroner.