Divers ‘so grateful’ after sea rescue
WITH little more than flippers and a bit of banter, two Tweed Heads mates survived against all odds.
For three hours the free divers managed to maintain cool heads, lost in the water off Nine Mile Reef, known for its fish and shark population.
It was a bright Wednesday morning when free divers, Dylan Briggs and Trevor Kitcheon, with Dylan’s father Scott Briggs at the helm of the boat, set up for a dive in the popular spot 4.5 nautical miles east of Tweed Heads.
The pair had planned to explore the reef and its 30 metre drop-off as they had done earlier in the week.
As experienced free divers, the swimmers were able to drop into the ocean without the use of breathing apparatus and rely solely on their ability to hold their breath.
Mr Briggs remained on board to locate the divers when they came up for air.
However on resurfacing the pair discovered they were no longer in the line of sight of the boat.
Instead, they found themselves lost, and drifting further away.
“After about twenty minutes of trying to wave down my dad and we were getting further and further away from him, we decided we would try and swim in,” Mr Briggs explained.
It was at that point Scott Briggs, still on the boat, signalled for help to find the missing men.
“He was just very distraught thinking the worst,” the 22-year-old explained.
As someone who had been regularly free diving for the past four years, Dylan said he still leant on Mr Kitcheon’s experience in that terrifying moment.
“Fortunately Trevor had been in situations like this and knew what to do, so I felt safe,” Mr Briggs said.
To pass the time the pair tried to make light of the situation.
“We weren’t really panicked, just slowly swimming in,” Mr Briggs said.
“We stayed calm and made a bit of a joke out of it.
“I asked Trevor to go diving tomorrow and he laughed at me.”
Three hours later, near exhausted from treading water, the beat of the rescue choppers broke through the surf.
“We were just so relieved,” Mr Briggs said.
“We saw it fly over us a few times, so we didn’t know if it actually saw us. But when it got lower and circled us a few times we were stoked, as it would have been hard to see.
“The big flippers were definitely a saviour.”
The Westpac Rescue Helicopter found the men 10 miles off the Tweed coast and winched them to safety.
Both men were taken to Tweed Hospital in a stable condition where they walked from the helipad, dressed in their dive gear.
Mr Briggs said the trio couldn’t be more thankful to the rescue team, who arrived just in time.
“Big thanks to them, it would have been so hard to spot us in the waves,” Mr Briggs said.
“So we are very grateful for them and being so nice about the situation.
Not to be dissuaded from his favourite pastime by their close call, Mr Briggs said he would be getting back out into the ocean as soon as this week.
Tweed Byron Police District Superintendent Wayne Starling said the pair were “very lucky” to escape unharmed from the situation.
“The locals say there’s a lot of sharks in that area, there is also a two metre swell so it’s dangerous conditions and it’s very difficult for them to be found,” Supt Starling said.
“What probably saved them was both men not only had wetsuits but they also had buoyancy vests as well.
“If it wasn’t for those buoyancy vests it could have been far, far worse for us. ”
Tweed Gold Coast Freedivers Incorporated President Ian Brown said the dangers of the sport are well known.
“It is extremely difficult to keep an eye out for the divers if you aren’t experienced,” Mr Brown said.
“They were very lucky it is such a calm day and they were spotted so quickly.”
Mr Brown, who knows Mr Kitcheon, says the free dive community breathed a sigh of relief when they heard the pair were safe.
“No one every wants to hear about anyone getting in trouble like that ” he said.