EDEN’S BRAVE ACTIONS ‘I saved my sister’
Volunteer lifesaver Eden Mcmillan has been part of many water rescues, but none more memorable than when the person who needed saving was her younger sister. The teen heroically swam her sister Asha, 15, to shore after she broke her back in three places while tubing with their family at Lakes Entrance, Victoria on January 1, 2020.
“We both came off the tube together and when we surfaced, we’d usually laugh at each other, but when I swam over to her, I realised there was something really wrong,” Eden, 17, tells Woman’s Day from her home in Bairnsdale, Victoria.
“Asha was saying, ‘My back, my back.’”
Using her first-aid training, Eden helped Asha lay down in the water and began treating her for a spinal injury. Both wearing lifejackets, Eden used her arms to stabilise Asha, keeping her spine as immobile as possible, before carefully swimming her to shore.
“Asha was in shock, she wasn’t breathing normally. She knew where she was, but not what had happened,” explains Eden, grateful she was able to keep calm during the ordeal.
HOSPITAL DASH
Driving the boat, the girls’ father, Ryan, 44, quickly realised what was happening and called for an ambulance and the coast guard before joining his daughters at the shoreline to wait for help.
Asha was rushed to hospital and was treated for her fractured spine. Thankfully, no surgery was required. After six weeks in a back brace and three months of rehab, she has now fully recovered with no long-term injuries – in part due to her sister’s quick thinking.
One year on, Eden is so grateful that her sister is back in full health.
“I was worried about Asha, but in the moment, I was able to push that aside,” says Eden, who plans to study paramedicine after high school.
“Asha is so lucky she’s fully recovered now. I’m super thankful I was able to help and that I had the skills to recognise other potential injuries.”
A finalist in the 2021 Heart Volunteer Awards following her brave actions, Eden admits while the recognition was wonderful, the biggest thanks her community could show is being educated about swim safety before taking to the water.
“Water safety skills are so important. As a lifeguard, rescues are so much easier if someone already has some training about water dangers,” she says.
“I’ll volunteer as a lifeguard for as long as I can. It makes me feel good knowing I’m helping the community.”