Sailors rescue jetski rider
A sailing couple didn’t hesitate to help a cold and almost unconscious man clinging to his jetski off the coast of Northland.
Husband and wife Lewis and Alyssa Allen were sailing through Bream Bay, near Whanga¯rei, when they heard a mayday call over the radio on Saturday afternoon.
Knowing they were only about five kilometres out and the only vessel nearby, Lewis wrote down the co-ordinates and steered his yacht north, against choppy seas and strong winds.
Spotting the man from near that location, but knowing their yacht couldn’t reach him, Alyssa didn’t think twice before leaping into the freezing water to bring him to safety.
Lewis said they just happened to be at the right place, sailing from Kawau Island to Tutukaka, when they heard the generic mayday.
Lewis told Maritime New Zealand they could assist by searching the area nearby, while a rescue helicopter hovered overhead.
‘‘It was pretty rough out there, but we turned upwind and started bashing into the waves to get closer to the position,’’ Lewis said.
About two kilometres out Alyssa said she saw something that looked like a fishing net moving around in the waves.
On closer inspection she realised the net was actually a jetski and the man was clinging on to the side for dear life.
‘‘He had tied himself to the jetski, but he was in the water,’’ Alyssa said. ‘‘I yelled out to him to ask if he was OK, and he said he was cold, and he couldn’t really move. I could see he was having a hard enough time keeping his head above the water.’’
Lewis immediately lowered the sail and tried to back up the boat closer to him, but the ‘‘extremely rough’’ weather meant he couldn’t get close enough.
‘‘I was afraid we might crush him because the boat was moving around so much.’’
It was then that Alyssa fearlessly plunged into the water.
Reaching the man, who was now weak and almost unconscious, she untied the knot he had made to keep him attached to the jetski.
Swimming against the current, she managed to pull the man towards the boat.
‘‘The hardest part was actually getting him onto the boat, because the back end was going underwater and then out of the water, and I was really concerned about him getting crushed by the boat.
‘‘I managed to grab onto the ladder, and Lewis grabbed his lifejacket, so I could try to hold his legs and hoist him up.’’
This wasn’t easy, however, as Lewis kept losing grip of the lifejacket, plummeting the man’s face underwater.
‘‘I was afraid he was going to drown because he wasn’t able to keep himself above water, but Alyssa managed to hold onto his legs long enough for us to hoist him up,’’ Lewis said.
With the man now in the boat, the couple, originally from San Francisco, wrapped him in as many blankets as possible.
Lewis then notified the Coastguard of what had happened and told them the man needed medical help immediately.
The Auckland Westpac rescue helicopter quickly responded by sending down a rescue swimmer to check over the patient.
He was in a serious condition and was suffering from hyperthermia.
‘‘The man wasn’t very coherent,
but said he had been in the water for about two hours and had been knocked off by a wave,’’ Alyssa said.
‘‘Each time he tried to get up it would capsize, and obviously it had moved pretty far away from the shore, so it kept getting rougher and rougher.’’
Using a harness, the paramedic hoisted the man up into the helicopter and he was transferred to hospital.
Reflecting on the day, the couple say they have no regrets about risking their lives.
Alyssa hoped the man was all right.
‘‘I was shaking with adrenaline and even after, it feels like an outof-body experience. I just can’t believe it happened,’’ she said.
‘‘He was having a hard enough time keeping his head above the water.
‘‘He was so weak, and I just imagined if it was my father or my family and there was no second thought.
‘‘Every second counts.’’