Margie Maccoll
The keen eye and quick action of Noosa lifesaver Jesse Lloyd Stewart led to the rescue of a 50-year-old man on Monday morning after he fell between rocks at the water edge with the tide coming in.
Noosa Heads Surf Lifesaving Club president Ross Fisher said a group of about 15 master surf group lifesavers had headed out for their usual early Monday morning paddle on surfboards about 6am.
The group varies their routes but by chance this Monday they headed toward the National Park.
Ross said as they surfed near the rocks past Little Cove Jesse glimpsed the man at the waterline.
Jesse said he was hard to spot. She paddled over to him to check he was OK.
“He must have been sitting on the rocks and slipped over. He was slipping backwards and forwards between rocks. The waves were coming over him,” she said.
Jesse said the man named Steve was “looking pretty bad when she got there”. “I was trying to check he was OK. He was semi-conscious, semi-responsive,” she said.
“She was holding him above the water while getting bashed by waves,” Ross said. “He was in and out of consciousness and slipping into the surf.”
Club member Patrick Lynch arrived soon after to assist before more of the surfing group were were able to paddle over to help.
Jesse said the group moved the man further up on the rocks and people on the boardwalk phoned emergency services.
She said Queensland Ambulance Service officers arrived as did QFES officers who brought a stretcher down.
About 10 people carried the larger man over the rocks on the stretcher, she said.
“It was so awkward to get him out of there,” Ross said.
“Hopefully he makes a good and speedy recovery,” Jesse said. “I’m glad I was there. I’m a lifeguard. I’m happy I could have helped.”
“As a surf club we’re very proud of what we did. It was fortuitous he was seen,” he said.
