Car scam blows up

A YOUNG man dramatically rescued from rough seas by a helicopter crew off South Stradbroke Island at the weekend has spoken of the desperate fear he felt while stuck in a powerful rip.

Labrador resident Liam Gravatt, 21, said he’d had limited experience in the surf and became frantic after being knocked from a jet ski during his first trip offshore with friend Joel Howell after the craft stalled on Sunday afternoon.

“I just have this vision of this massive wave that came out of nowhere and it just smashed me, that’s what made me panic,” Mr Gravatt said, explaining what it was like to be crushed by a rogue 2m wave.

“You’ve only got a few seconds and you can’t really do anything, you just sit there and take it all.”

Mr Gravatt, who was wearing a life jacket, said he tried to compose himself after the pounding wipe-out.

But conditions changed rapidly and they soon found themselves about 100m offshore.

“When we fell off it was all laughs, we thought no worries, but then the wind picked up a bit and the rip got pretty strong and my head was under water,” he said.

“I was out of breath and then all this adrenalin started kicking in. I was like, ‘(expletive) I can’t do this any more’.”

He said that was when he began thrashing in a frantic bid to get back to shore.

But the harder he fought, the more water he inhaled, despite his mate Joel’s efforts to keep him above the water.

“Gasping for air I swallowed salt water,” Mr Gravatt said.

“We were trying to get to shore, Joel did the right thing by going off to the side (swimming parallel to shore) but I just kept getting ripped out.

“There was a sense like ‘this is pretty bad’ and ‘I’ve never felt like this before’, you know? But Joel helped me out and calmed me down a little bit.”

It was at this point the crew of a Westpac Lifesaver Rescue Helicopter on afternoon patrol spotted the pair in distress.

Crewmen Jared Clark, who performed the winch rescue, said he saw Mr Howell trying to hold Mr Gravatt’s head above water.

After the rescue Mr Gravatt thanked Mr Clark while being wheeled into the back of an ambulance, but said he wanted to do so again when he wasn’t so “dizzy’’.

“Just getting picked up out of all that drama ... I thought I was going to vomit,” he said.

“They’re pretty cool, they took their job really seriously, they gave me the oxygen mask straight away.”

Mr Gravatt was taken to Gold Coast University Hospital where he was assessed and discharged soon after arrival.

He said he was keen to get back on a jet ski, but would not be riding one outside the Gold Coast Seaway anytime soon. THOUSANDS of motorists could face engine repair bills of up to $10,000 as counterfeit car parts flood the market.

A major “sting” operation by two of the biggest selling car manufacturers in Australia – Toyota and Hyundai – has uncovered a racket that sells bogus oil filters in what appear to be genuine packaging.

One importer alone was busted with more than 500 phony parts for Toyota, Lexus, Hyundai and Kia vehicles.

Now, following months of investigations and subsequent federal court action by the manufacturers, the dodgy distributor has agreed to contact the thousands of affected customers and replace the parts with genuine items.

Oil filters, which cost from $20 to $50, filter out any impurities in the oil, preventing the engine from seizing.

But the filters seized in the undercover bust by Toyota and Hyundai were found to be ineffective because they contained “inferior or unsuitable” filters and springs.