Man who rescued teen off Auckland beach more concerned with his undies than his own safety

Sunday, 26 May 2019

Chris Turner has been awarded the District Commanders Certificate of Appreciation in recognition of his bravery after he saved someone from drowning at Maraetai beach.

A man who rescued a teenage windsurfer from rough waves says he wasn't concerned about his own safety, but whether he had appropriate underwear on.

Chris Turner, a former surf lifesaver, spotted a windsurf board washing up on the shore of Auckland's Maraetai beach while driving home from work.

He parked his ute and stepped into the 40 knot winds to take a closer look: 'I thought I'd scored myself a pretty nice windsurfer that I'd never use.'

Chris Turner was presented with a police bravery award for saving a teenager at Maraetai beach.

However, the board looked new, and Turner was dogged by the feeling it belonged to someone – although the beach was deserted.

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Turner said he'd like to shake the hand of the teenager he rescued.

* Police officer strips off to save young Otago sailor**

'I looked out [to sea] and about 500m off the shore, there's a whole lot of mooring buoys for boats,' Turner says.

'I know where they are, and I noticed an extra little one there which turned out to be [a] young fella.'

Turner said the teenage windsurfer had one hand in the air and at first, he didn't know if he was telling him not to steal his board or if he was calling for help.

On the phone to emergency services, Turner watched as the teenager started to put two hands in the air and disappear below the surface.

'I said, 'I'm going to go and get him' and [the call taker] tried very hard to talk me out of it until police got there. But there wasn't time for that.'

A former surf lifesaver at Karioitahi beach on the west coast, Turner said his biggest concern was what he had on under his work clothes.

'I couldn't remember what undies I had on – was it the flash pair or the old pair? – just in case I got a bit of a crowd.

'I knew I could swim out there – I've grown up on the coast, and been boating all my life.'

Putting his brief concerns aside, Turner stripped off and used the board to get out to the sinking teen.

'He was definitely in shock and he wasn't going to last much longer.'

He had to battle 'big waves', wind and pouring rain to get the teen back to shore.

The pair were met by the police back at the beach.

The teenager didn't say a lot, other than 'thanks', and Turner hadn't heard from him again, he said.

'I can remember his face of course. It'd be nice to [see him] and shake his hand.'

At the Counties Manukau district police awards ceremony earlier this month, Turner was presented with a District Commander's certificate of appreciation for the December water rescue.

Police said the certificate recognised the bravery Turner had displayed in putting aside his own safety to paddle out and rescue the teenager.

For his part, Turner said he was 'a bit overwhelmed actually' to be given the award and accepting it in front of his wife and daughter was a moving experience.

'Police said lots of people just stand there and watch these days and don't do anything,' he said.

'I found that a little bit hard to believe. I'd do it again tomorrow.'