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A solo surfer was seriously injured after being dragged onto the rocks on an Auckland beach. Photo / Surf Life Saving NZ
A seriously injured surfer on a remote West Auckland beach was able to write the word “HELP” in the sand before collapsing.
The man had been surfing alone on Karekare beach today when he lost his board and was swept off the rocks by big waves.
He tried for two hours to get off the beach through the bush trails, but couldn’t.
Desperate, he wrote his message in the sand at Mercer Bay, hoping someone would see it.
And someone did.
A woman on a trail saw him writing the message before collapsing.
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Called United North Piha Surf Club around 3.30pm
A Surf Life Saving Rescue jetski was dispatched from Piha with two lifeguards and first aid kit to conduct a search.
Upon arrival, lifeguards located the surfer and found he had serious injuries.
The lifeguards provided emergency first aid before transporting the man back to Piha, where an ambulance had been arranged to meet them at the surf club and then transport him to the hospital.
At around 5 p.m., the man’s wife reported him missing to the police after she failed to do so.
Surf Life Saving’s rescue communications center, SurfCom, confirmed that the patient being treated by first responders was the missing person with the news relayed to his family.
Search and rescue supervisor John-Michael Swannix said the man was very lucky.
“The message in the sand is not visible from the walking trails at the north end of Mercer Bay, so it was very fortunate that the informant and her friend were at the south end and could see it.
“With Auckland at alert level 3, there are not that many people away from home at the moment so it’s also lucky that someone was walking the track at the time.”
Swannix said that with Covid alert levels returning to level 2, people should always go surfing or swimming with someone else.
“It just means that someone is there to take care of him or to get help if something goes wrong.
“We have 17 Emergency Call Squads from Ahipara to Raglan that are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to respond to incidents like this. If someone is in trouble, people just need to call 111 and ask police for surf lifeguards. “
Weekday patrols in Ōrewa, Bethells, North Piha and Raglan end at the end of this week, and daily patrols in Muriwai and Piha continue until the first week of March.
