A holidaymaker has been praised for rescuing five children and two women from Burrill Lake Inlet on Wednesday afternoon.
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The 43-year-old man jumped into the water without hesitation to retrieve the children aged six to 13 and their mothers just after 3pm on January 17.
At one stage, the man went into “six to eight foot” swell to get an 11-year-old boy who was swept into the surf, Illawarra Ambulance acting duty operations manager Chris Lahene said.
“The size of the swell that he took on was nothing short of outstanding,” Mr Lahene said.
“He brushed it off as ‘well you just do what you do’. He did swallow quite a deal of water and was in the water for 20 minutes.
“It was an outstanding effort; to actually be able to get a hold of him while six to eight foot waves would have been breaking on them.
“He would have been trying to hold that boy afloat as well as make his way back in. It would have been very tiring.
“He was transported to Milton Hospital but is quite a hero.”
The group got into trouble while attempting to cross the Burrill Lake Inlet channel from south to north.
“They got into difficulty because it's a run-out tide and the children were swept towards the ocean,” Mr Lahene said.
“They misjudged how strong the outgoing current was from the lake.
“Four of the children were brought in before they reached the ocean.
“A fifth, a male aged 11, went into six to eight foot swell. He was obviously quite distressed and distraught but physically he was good. He was very tired and very frightened.
“He spent approximately 20 minutes in the water.”
One of the mothers had tried to help and was distressed following the near miss, Mr Lahene said.
Four children and three adults, including the “hero” holiday maker who rescued the group, were taken to Milton Ulladulla Hospital with non life-threatening injuries.
They remained there on Wednesday evening for observation but were expected to be released.
Mr Lahene said the group was lucky.
“It could have gone to a very bad place very quickly,” he said.
“It's a much-needed good news story for the area from the last few weeks that's for sure.
“They were obviously quite frantic and distraught. Because they ended up being separated by a reasonable distance, it was difficult to ascertain if all the children were safe so that would have made it extremely stressful.”
South and north Mollymook Beach and Narrawallee Beach were closed on Wednesday due to wild seas.
Earlier this month, Mollymook Surf Life Saving Club captain Adam Woodward said some of the most dangerous areas in the region were lake openings on the run out tide.
“We often rescue people with the ski at Narrawallee and Burrill Lake Inlets,” he said.
“With our jet ski, we patrol on the weekend between Dolphin Point and Green Island. We target those areas on the run out tide. If the public can take heed to that, everyone will be a lot better off.”