Four off-duty junior lifeguards pull off real-life rescue at Canterbury beach

Saturday, 9 November 2019

Four junior surf lifesavers from Waikuku Beach in North Canterbury are being credited with saving three people from a rip.

When Jorja Butler got caught in a rip at her local beach she feared she would drown.

The 11-year-old was swimming at Waikuku in North Canterbury on Sunday with her friend, Nicole Kuch, also 11.

It was an incredibly hot day and the beach was packed.

Junior Waikuku lifesavers Ana White, Petra Lamont, Jade Lamont and Ruby Thoms, saved Jorja Butler (back), and her friend after they got caught in a rip.

'We were only waist-deep,' Jorja said. 'We went a bit further but Nicole's granddad said we needed to move in a bit and then we realised we couldn't move.'

**READ MORE:

Sisters Jade and Petra Lamont say their surf lifesaving training paid off when they were able to keep calm and rescue people caught in a rip.

* Teenage recruits sought before busy surf lifesaving season begins

* Water safety warning: 60 Kiwis have drowned so far this year

The Waikuku Surf Lifesaving Club is gearing up for a busy season.

* Surf Life Saving launches rip current summer safety campaign**

The pair were both confident in the sea, but had never experienced anything like it before.

The club hosted the Surf Lifesaving Carnival in 2018.

'The waves were going over the top of us and there were holes on the bottom, we couldn't stand up,' Jorja said.

Nicole's granddad Kevin Kuch tried holding both girls under the arms to keep them above water, but he too was struggling to stand on the bottom.

The Waikuku club's junior team is now preparing for the nationals in March.

The trio began calling out for help, and were noticed by four junior members of the Waikuku Surf Lifesaving Club.

Jade Lamont, 12, was with her friend Ruby Thoms, 13, when they realised there was a problem.

'They were calling for help, but at first I didn't realise there was a rip,' Jade said. 'When we got there [Jorja] had swallowed a lot of water, she was struggling to keep her head above the water.'

Jade's sister Petra and friend Ana White, both 9, had already arrived on the scene. They got one of the girls on to a boogie board and tried to paddle her to safety.

'Waves were coming but with no power so we were going nowhere, we couldn't get back in easily,' Jade said.

It was fortunate the rescuers happened to be swimming, because lifeguard patrols do not generally start for the season until mid November.

Jorja needed four days off school to recover from her ordeal, which included breathing issues, a sore neck and muscular pains, but said she was grateful to be alive.

'If they weren't there we would have died, definitely,' she said.

Club spokeswoman Angela Lamont, who is Jade and Petra's mother, said the rescue gave the four girls some hands-on experience, but it had taken a while for it to sink in.

'It can all happen so quickly, and it was such an unexpected place for it right out the front of the surf club – you never get rips there. There are plenty of beaches you need to look out for [rips], but not Waikuku.'

Kuch, himself a former surf lifesaver, said he had been out in all sorts of seas, but this was the first time he had been caught in a rip.

The 70-year-old said he was pleased to see the rescuers, who were 'cool, calm and collected'.

Lamont said it was important to remember the three Rs: relax and float, raise your hand and ride the rip.

'Your instinct is to fight but you waste so much energy that way,' she said.

'It's our responsibility as the public to keep ourselves safe, especially if there are no lifeguards on patrol.'

The Waikuku club's junior team is now preparing for the nationals in March.