Photo: NSW Police
Byron Bay police officer Tommy Frazer hearkened back to his previous life as a Bondi Rescue lifeguard in a daring rescue this week. After encountering three French tourists stranded at sea, he jumped into action to save them.
Constable Frazer and his partner Constable Toby Govan encountered the tourists after the public called authorities upon witnessing three beginner surfers stranded on a rocky outcrop in Little Wategos Beach.
“I made the decision pretty quickly that I was going in,” he told ABC. “I ditched my gun, took off my clothes apart from my undies and swam out to them.”
When he reached the outcropping, his plan was to get them into the water, because he knew that, even if a jet ski didn’t arrive to retrieve them, they would be washed back to shore naturally. However, the tourists were visibly panicked and hesitant to return to the water. Moreover, a language barrier made it difficult to actually impart his plan upon them.
“All I wanted to do was relax them and let them know it was all good,” he continued, adding that the fact he and the tourists couldn’t speak the same language “makes it a bit tricky but I probably wouldn’t be swimming out to someone that’s just floating around in their undies either.”
Finally, he was able to coax them into the water, but that wasn’t the end of their troubles. Though two of the tourists were strong swimmers and made their way back to shore, one of the men was in bad shape – appearing to pass out – and required assistance back to shore.
“He was trying to ‘climb the ladder’ and push anything under that he could get his hands on,” explained Frazer. “Eventually I was able to get a hold of him from a rear headlock and kept him afloat for a couple minutes until the jet ski pulled up.”
Once the ski arrived, they were all able to safely return to shore, where the man was treated before being sent to Lismore Base Hospital in serious but stable condition.
“Spending four years working at Bondi Beach made it a lot easier for me to manage that situation,” concluded Frazer. “It sounds a bit hectic but luckily or unlucky for me, it’s not the most hectic rescue I’ve been a part of.”
