Not a story of a near-drowning, rather one about the deaths of two children in the ocean just days out from Christmas. That’s how dire a surf rescue at North Wollongong beach was on Sunday evening.

As the sun lowered in the sky and the clock struck 6pm, volunteer lifesavers pulled the flags from the sand.

About 15 minutes later, as North Wollongong Surf Life Saving Club (SLSC) members gathered at the nearby clubhouse for a pre-Christmas function, two children entered the water.

Within minutes, the kids – a boy aged about 10 and a girl, believed to be in her early teens – got into trouble just north of the clubhouse.

The first indication something wasn’t right came when two Nippers, standing on the building’s ocean-side balcony, heard a woman’s screams coming from the beach.  

Laiken Turner, 11, and Summah Arnold, 7, ran inside and told Laiken’s mum, Deb, who in turn alerted other club members.

“We heard yelling, like from the mother, saying ‘help, help’,” Laiken said.

North Wollongong SLSC vice-captain Kel Giddey then went to assess the situation, but struggled to see anyone in the water due to the overcast and choppy conditions.

Despite the lack of a visual, the mother’s screams continued – prompting an emergency response from about 10 club members.

“By the time we got there, they [the children] were about 200 to 250 [metres] offshore,” Mr Giddey said.

“The young girl was holding her brother up.”

The pair were plucked from the water and taken ashore, where they were treated by paramedics for mild hypothermia and taken to Wollongong Hospital. 

“They’d been under a few times, so we transported them because they’d taken on seawater,”  Ambulance NSW Inspector Norm Rees said.

“They were conscious and walking, but it was the after-effects that we were managing.” 

Inspector Rees praised the swift actions of rescuers.

“It was definitely the lifesavers that saved them, they would have been gone for all intents and purposes,” he said.

Laiken’s mum, Deb Turner, was also proud of the girls’ actions and those of the off-duty surf lifesavers.

“All it was, was ‘mum, I think someone’s drowning’,” she said of Laiken’s message, alerting her to what was unfolding nearby.  

“Seeing the mother on the beach … just screaming, you put yourself in their shoes.

“You get goosebumps, because you think it can happen to anybody.

“They are extremely, extremely lucky.”