Tricky rescue wins lifeguard award
Lifeguards who saved a badly injured surfer — he famously wrote “HELP” in the sand at an isolated beach on the West Auckland coastline — have won a top award.
New dad Ben Searancke was lucky to survive when a surfing expedition seven days after the birth of his daughter went horribly wrong.
The Auckland man had ventured out on his surfboard at Karekare on February 17, and the beach was deserted during Alert Level 3.
After losing his board in the large waves, he was dragged along the coastline.
He suffered gashes to his legs on sharp rocks – some of which went to the bone – and swallowed a lot of water.
After a three-hour battle in the rough seas, he managed to make it to Mercer Bay further up the coast, where he tied a surfboard leash around a badly bleeding leg as an improvised tourniquet.
He then wrote “HELP” in large letters on the beach, before passing out. He later admitted he thought he was going to die.
But he was spotted by Karekare locals Vanessa Ingraham and Dace Kalnina who alerted emergency services.
The United North Piha Lifeguard Service and Piha Paid Lifeguard Service responded, and both were jointly awarded the Rescue of the Year award at last night’s annual Surf Life Saving Northern Region’s Awards of Excellence ceremony.
“Because the shorebreak waves were large, the rescue water craft was unable to be beached, so one crew member swam to the beach to apply emergency first aid, while the other manned the craft beyond the breakers,” the judges said.
Searancke was rushed to Auckland City Hospital, where he underwent surgery on his serious leg injuries.
After being discharged, Searancke told the Herald on Sunday of his miracle survival, including that he had been inspired to write “HELP” by Tom Hanks’ 2000 film Cast Away.
“Kiwis are Kiwis, I know that they might just walk past and I was desperate,” he said.
“I felt a bit dizzy, I was held down for long enough to start thinking ‘this is it, it’s definitely over’.
“That time my brain was definitely going. I could see my daughter, I could see my missus and I was going ‘This is it’.”
Other finalists in the rescue of the year category were the Mangawhai Heads Volunteer Lifeguard Service for saving a boatie injured 3km offshore, and the Karekare Surf Life Saving Club for its rescue of four teenage girls, one of whom died on the way to hospital.
Northern Region chief executive Matt Williams said the winning rescue showcased the professionalism of the two patrol captains who worked together to coordinate a complex rescue while maintaining their existing operations on a busy beach day.
“But all three rescues were an excellent demonstration of the importance of having skilled lifeguards with the right equipment available to act quickly in complex and dangerous situations to save lives.”
During the 2020-21 surf lifesaving season, Northern Region lifeguards committed almost 66,000 volunteer hours to beach patrols.
They were involved in 148 rescues and 264 assists. They also performed 26,000 “safety interventions” involving more than 114,000 people.