Young couple thank rescuers
When a young New Plymouth couple were being battered by huge waves and fearing for their lives, they put their hands up, called for help and lifeguards were there in minutes.
Yesterday, Azalee Wells, 22, and Jamie Zab, 22, said they were incredibly grateful to the lifeguards who rescued them at East End Beach on Sunday.
Four days later Zab said he still couldn’t believe how fast the inflatable rescue boat (IRB) got to them.
‘‘As soon as the arm was out they were there, like, straightaway. They’re amazing.’’
On Wednesday, veteran lifeguard Hywel Davies said the situation the pair found themselves in was one of the most serious he had seen in 35 years’ experience.
He said it had been traumatic for everyone involved.
It was serious enough that Wells was warned by an East End lifeguard she may have flashbacks. The couple say they are yet to return to the water.
The dramatic and rapid rescue came on the last day of the busy school holiday period.
The conditions at the beach were rough with a heavy swell when Wells and Zab arrived with four friends.
Despite the conditions the group chose to take their inflatable dinghy and swim outside the patrol flags.
While most got into the dinghy, others swam beside it. Those in the dinghy were knocked out by a wave, which carried the boat to shore.
Wells said she was swimming alongside the boat when the wave hit.
‘‘I was under the wave which was fine. Then all of a sudden, it happened so quickly, I was out really deep.’’
The St Joseph’s School teacher aide had been caught in one of the rips west coast beaches are notorious for.
When Zab saw she was in trouble and becoming distressed he went out to her, she said.
‘‘I couldn’t breathe properly at one point because I was panicking. I can swim, but it was really, really hard. The waves, they were massive.’’
By the time Zab reached Wells she was nearly exhausted. There was ‘‘no point messing around’’. He put his hand up and called for help. Fortunately there was an IRB already in the water.
‘‘It was very scary,’’ Wells said. ‘‘And yeah, I can’t thank them enough, because honestly, if my boyfriend wasn’t there ... if it was any longer ...,’’ she said.
‘‘I was so grateful and I kept saying ‘ thank you, thank you’. Sorry, as well, because we weren’t between the flags.’’
Zab said the lifeguards didn’t give them a hard time about not swimming between the flags.
‘‘They were actually very nice about it. They were very polite.
‘‘Once they made sure we were OK they sort of just said, next time swim between the flags. They’re there for a reason.
‘We’re like, yeah, definitely.’’ Another lifeguard called them at night to check up on them. ‘‘They were really good.’’ On Wednesday, Davies said the East End club had a mixture of experienced and newer guards patrolling on Sunday and that everything had worked out to allow lifeguards to respond quickly.
‘‘We would like to urge members of the public to plan to swim at a patrolled beach, assess the beach when they arrive, read the information board and swim between the flags,’’ he said.
While no one has died on a Taranaki beach this summer, 33 people across Aotearoa had drowned in the summer period to January 25.
These included people swimming at the beach or river, people fishing, boating or diving.
There were 38 drownings at the same time last year.