Canberra resident Mr Brown had witnessed the accident and was already in the water, searching blindly for the young family, when the lifesavers and emergency services arrived.

In complete darkness, he found the stroller containing the baby and pulled it to the surface, in an attempt to unfasten the child.

"He brought the baby to the surface in the pram three times and the baby took in air, but every time he got to the surface a wave would come and bash him into a pylon, and the third time it went under he lost sight of it because it was just so black," Mrs Wheatley said.

"He just jumped in with no thought of himself and tried to get those people out, and now he's kicking himself because they all died.

"But what he did was such a feat, to get that pram out three times without a floatation device, it was just incredible.

"If you'd had ideal water (conditions), which you often do ... then they would've had a chance.

"But the conditions were just shocking - there were rough seas and it was very windy."

Mrs Wheatley and several volunteer lifesavers had been holding a committee meeting at their beach clubhouse when they received the call-out at 8.22pm. They were on the scene within two minutes.

When police arrived on the scene with flashlights, the rescue team was able to quickly locate Mr O'Neill and his two sons, who were found together near the wharf.

Two lifesavers, one an off-duty nurse, performed CPR on the children until two ambulances arrived and transported them to Bega hospital.

Mr ONeill was taken by rescue boat to Tathra beach, where lifesavers attempted to revive him.

Yesterday, the volunteer lifesavers were still coming to terms with the loss, after learning Mr O'Neill was a local.

"When we were doing the rescue, you just go into autopilot ... but this morning, everyone is still shell-shocked," a tired and tearful Mrs Wheatley said. "It's very traumatic ... no-one has slept.

"(The lifesavers) have got cuts and they came out covered with (blue bottle) stings all over their backs and they couldn't even feel them."

Tathra Pre-School, which Mr O'Neill's eldest son attended, was in shock yesterday as children and parents heard the tragic news.

"Anything like this really rocks the community, but the (rescue) guys were just so brave.

"I take my hat off to them. They were incredible. I was just gobsmacked (to see) the sheer strength and the guts that they had to just jump in."