Drowning Toll Rises over Busy Easter

Surf lifesavers and lifeguards made more than 200 rescues and performed nearly 1,000 first aids over a busy Easter long weekend which saw the drowning toll rise to 42 for the year.

A 17 year old male was declared deceased on scene after lifeguards and members of the public recovered his body from the water at Hastings Point, north of Byron Bay on Saturday 30 March.

The boy had not resurfaced after jumping off the popular Hastings Point Bridge a little after 4pm.

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It was an ominous sign for things to come along the coastline, but volunteer lifesavers and lifeguards were resolute in their duty – 204 rescues performed, 832 first aid deliveries, and 34 ambulances called, making for a busy few days.

Lifeguards last night were also involved in the search for and retrieval of a man from the Parramatta River after he was reported missing just after 5pm. Police Divers eventually recovered the body of the man overnight, some distance from the patrolled zone.

Also among the major incidents on our coastline, a near drowning at Kiama on Friday afternoon where a 25 year old male was pulled from the water by members of the public and placed on oxygen by members of patrol. He was later transported to hospital conscious and breathing.

At the notorious Fingal Spit at Port Stephens, Fingal Bay SLSC’s Call Out Team and the on-call Duty Officer attended to five people who had been caught in a rip after 6pm on Saturday. Volunteers assisted in delivering first aid to the group before NSW Ambulance arrived, with one male transported to hospital as a precaution.

On Sunday, a pair of males – aged 18 and 13 – were pulled from the water by a support operations jet ski at Greenhills Beach in Sydney’s south. Both were put on oxygen and transported to hospital, the former in an unconscious state but breathing.

Further north, a male and two children were rescued by a support operations craft conducting a surveillance patrol off Main Beach at Byron Bay, well outside the flagged area.

Beaches are expected to remain busy over the coming weeks, particularly in the north of the state, with the Queensland school holidays beginning today – bringing with it a raft of travellers and holiday makers.

Flags will remain up on NSW beaches until 28 April 2024.

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