Snorkeller drowns on Sydney's northern beaches as teenager pulled from Hawkesbury River
A snorkeller has drowned on Sydney’s northern beaches and a 16-year-old boy is in a critical condition after being pulled unresponsive from a river northwest of the city as Australia’s drowning toll surged over the long weekend.
The teenager was swimming in the Hawkesbury River at a campground in Sackville after midday on Monday before he was pulled unresponsive from the water. Members of the public performed CPR while NSW Ambulance rushed to the scene.
The boy was stabilised and airlifted to Westmead hospital where he is in a critical condition.
NSW Ambulance’s Insp Nathan Sheraton described the incident as a “devastating scene for all involved”.
“Bystanders did an extraordinary job assisting the patient before paramedics arrived. They did a great job under very difficult circumstances,” he said.
“We need to be mindful of where we are swimming and understanding our limits over the next few days. We want everyone to have fun but please look out for each other.”
Separately, a man died while snorkelling at North Narrabeen Beach on Monday afternoon taking the total number of drowning deaths in NSW in 2021 to six.
The 30-year-old man was pulled from the water after snorkelling for only five minutes with lifeguards and then paramedics attempting CPR.
Surf Life Saving NSW’s director of lifesaving, Joel Wiseman, lamented the drowning and acknowledged the efforts of the lifesavers.
“In this case, as we’ve seen over the past month, the outcome has been tragic. One life lost is one too many but we’re thankful for the swift response and care taken by the northern beaches council lifeguards,” he said.
“Please take extra care this Australia
Day. It’s vital you make the extra effort to swim at a patrolled location and do not swim if you’re drinking. We want everyone to have a great day, a safe day.”
The drowning toll for the 2020-2021 summer months has already well outstripped the previous year with 57 deaths in Australian waterways compared with 45 this time last year. In the past 11 days, seven people have died in Victorian waterways while NSW has recorded five drowning deaths in the past week.
As a scorching heatwave hits Australia’s south-eastern states over the weekend authorities have urged people to be careful.
Surf Life Saving NSW said there had been a “record-breaking” 303 rescues over the weekend, with 1,200 incidents requiring first aid and 15,560 “preventative actions” taken by on-duty lifeguards. The NSW ambulance service has been called out to potential drowning incidents 25 times.
Stacey Pidgeon, the national manager for research and policy at Royal Life Saving, said the combination of a public holiday and an associated increase in alcohol consumption doubled young people’s chances of drowning.
Alcohol is involved in about a quarter of all Australian drowning deaths, jumping to 37% on long weekends, with men, particularly at risk.
“Save the beers for later on, or when you’re at home because it does play a big factor in drowning,” Pidgeon said.
“What we’re seeing is that people are not just having one or two drinks they’re actually drinking a lot. This is playing into risk-taking behaviour and impairing judgment, coordination and swimming ability as well. We do see, unfortunately, alcohol is a key risk factor for drowning, and particularly among men.”
Men overall made up 80% of waterway deaths last year.
“I guess the messages are not getting through to men, in terms of making safe decisions around water,”
Pidgeon said.
There is no suggestion that alcohol was a factor in the spate of recent deaths and non-fatal drownings as this is generally determined during coronial inquests many months later.
Pidgeon said Covid-19 lockdowns may also be playing a part in people being less prepared around the water this summer.
“With pools are being shut for most of this year as well, both kids and adults alike haven’t been able to go to the swimming pools to do the swimming lesson or the regular fitness that they would usually be doing,” she said.
“Needing to stay close to home we’re seeing more people may be going to waterways that they’re not so familiar with. They’re exploring their local back yard and local waterways which is fantastic, but it also means that there are people who may be less familiar with those waterways.”
Pigeon said people may also be more tempted to swim at unpatrolled beaches out outside the red and yellow flags in order to distance themselves from the crowds, however, this tactic potentially increases the risk to one’s self rather than reducing it.
Victorian emergency management commissioner Andrew Crisp echoed this point while urging people to be careful over the Australia Day long weekend.
“A lot of Victorians haven’t been able to get out and about, [they’re] generally not as fit as they might have been 12 months ago,” he said.
There have already been a number of drowning death over the long weekend, with two Victorian men dying in separate incidents on Saturday.
Two men were out on a boat in Anglesea, south-west of Melbourne, on Saturday afternoon when the vessel tipped and sent them both overboard, and while one man made it back to sore his a 58-year-old companion died at the scene.
In the nearby town of Barwon Heads, a man was pulled from the water at Thirteenth Beach after he got into trouble in the surf.
Authorities said he had been swimming with a boy and a girl who were helped back to shore, but the man died at the scene despite paramedics attempts to save him.
Less than 24 hours before, three men drowned in NSW on Friday night after being swept into the surf at Port Kembla, south of Wollongong.
A group of people were standing on rocks fishing near the popular lookout spot “Hill 60”, when according to police, a large wave crashed into them, knocking five into the water around 10 pm. While two people managed to swim to shore, the bodies of three men were later discovered by authorities.
According to Royal Life Saving, between July 2019 and June 2020, 248 people died in Australia waterways, the most dangerous locations being inland rivers and creeks.