There was little moonlight to guide the three lifesavers sent into the ocean early on Saturday morning, in search of a man washed off the rocks at Kiama.
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It would be another five hours before the sun would rise. The sea was rough and the spotlights on the crew’s jet-propelled rescue boat were of limited effect in the wind and the spray.
In the chop we saw a flicker of light off in the distance.
- Rhys Dawson
Boat captain Rhys Dawson and his fellow Kiama Surf Life Saving Club volunteer, Tom Daly, scanned the black waters as the driver, Greg Delahunty, moved the boat almost 100 metres off shore, towards a tiny light source.
“There wasn’t much of a moon so it was very hard for the driver to navigate,” Mr Dawson said.
“In the chop, we saw a flicker of light off in the distance. One of our crew members spotted it. We headed in that direction and we located him, floating face-up in the water.”
The 51-year-old man spent 45 minutes in the water before he was pulled into the rescue craft, about 2.15am.
He was severely hypothermic, semi-conscious and suffering a head injury.
“When we got him back to shore, one of the paramedics informed us his body temperature was 28 degrees,” Mr Dawson said.
“It was a very cold night. I think he was very lucky that we got to him when we did.
“Obviously with his body temperature being 28 degrees, I don’t know how much longer he could have lasted.
“Thankfully he was doing the right thing – he was wearing a life jacket and at the time he had a torch on him. The life jacket was the thing that saved him.”
The man was fishing alongside a friend when he was hit by a wave and washed from rocks at the northern end of Jones Beach about 1.30am Saturday.
The friend raised the alarm with residents before police were notified and activated the surf life saving emergency response system, which can see life saving volunteers called upon at any hour.
The injured man was airlifted to St George Hospital in a critical condition. His condition was listed as stable, as of Monday afternoon.
In the wake of the rescue, police and lifesavers are calling on rock anglers to spend time observing their intended fishing spot, to get an understand of the conditions over a full swell/wave cycle, and to never turn their backs on the ocean.
“Always check the conditions and never fish alone,” Mr Dawson said.