Injured surfer on Auckland’s Karekare beach who wrote ‘HELP’ in sand thanks rescue heroes

Ben Searancke is “thankful” to be able to see his newborn baby after a “heartbreaking” experience in which the surfer was seriously injured alone and stranded on a remote West Auckland beach.

Searancke had been surfing alone at Karekare Beach on Wednesday when he lost his board and was swept onto the rocks by large waves, before being washed ashore at Mercer Bay to the north.

He tried for two hours to get out of the bay, separated from Karekare and Piha to the north by steep cliffs, trying to climb steep bush trails, but could not.

With a deep wound on his leg and desperate, he wrote the word “help” in the sand at Mercer Bay, hoping someone would see it.

And someone did. Two Karekare locals on a hike saw the message and raised the alarm, Searancke was soon picked up by United North Piha Surf Club staff and taken to hospital.

Searancke wasn’t up to a full interview when the Herald approached him Thursday, but he took time to thank his rescuers.

“I just had a heartbreaking experience, and my wife and I just had a newborn baby, 5 days old, so when I woke up this morning I felt so thankful and lucky to be alive.

“Thanks to the emergency response team, the hospital staff, but most importantly to the Surf Life Saving Club, who found me and picked me up.

“It just shows how important their services and that organization are. If it weren’t for them, I wouldn’t be here today.”

Searancke’s desperate message was picked up by Karekare residents Vanessa Ingraham, 36, and her friend Dace Kalnina, 32, who were walking along a coastal track at the time.

Unaware that Searancke was in dire straits, the pair stopped to take in the view from their high vantage point.

“We stopped and then we see this man trying to write something in the sand with his leg,” Kalnina said.

“We wondered if he was being friendly and started writing H, E, and we thought he was going to write a nice greeting message,” Ingraham said.

“Fortunately we stayed. The L turned into a P. At that point, he finished writing and collapsed in the sand.”

Kalnina said that although they initially wondered if it was a joke, it only took a couple of seconds to realize that the man was in trouble and that they had to act.

“We yelled at him, but because we were so high up and it was windy, we couldn’t really understand what everyone was yelling, but he saw us and waved back.

“He waved to us as he lay down on the sand, so that’s when we realized it was serious.”

They called in the local United North Piha Surf Club to come to the man’s aid and sent in the spectacular photo taken above the remote bay, which shows the man face down in the sand near the one-word message.

“They reacted immediately. They kept calling me for an update, so we stayed 20 minutes to see what happened.”

He said that at one point Searancke managed to stand up and walk, but had a severe limp. They later discovered that he had sustained a serious leg injury during his tumultuous experience in the rough surf where he had lost his surfboard and once on land he tried for two hours to climb through the bushes to get to safety.

Ingraham said the couple were concerned that lifeguards would have trouble spotting the man from the sea.

“It was very tough. We saw the jet ski come in and there was a big wave breaking. They took a while to look for it before risking going onto the beach,” Kalnina said.

He was later seen caught between lifeguards on the rescue boat, leaving the bay and heading to Piha for medical attention.

The women said they were glad her departure had meant they could help, though they insisted her role was very behind the scenes.

Ingraham said: “I think we were lucky to be in the right place at the right time.”

“We’re glad she’s safe,” Kalnina said.

Friends said that learning that the man’s wife had called the police worried that he had not returned from his surfing trip gave them the strong feeling that they had done the right thing.

“I think taking that situation seriously and reporting it, even if it was a joke, raises awareness in the community to take care of each other, especially in such an isolated place where we live,” Kalnina said.

“I felt a little guilty about not helping clients when I went on a field trip. The universe gave us another chance to help,” Ingraham said.

Last night, search and rescue supervisor John-Michael Swannix said Searancke 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.”