By Abbey Cannan
Edward Morris can now walk his daughters down the aisle thanks to the lifeguards and paramedics who brought him back to life on the sand at Noosa Main Beach on 15 February, 2023.
The South Australian farmer was 48-years-old when swimming with his family in Noosa, until his holiday turned into horror as he collapsed onto the sand and became unresponsive at around 4pm.
Volunteers from Nippers began CPR, before the Noosa lifeguards took over compressions and began shocks from a defibrillator.
Brooke Morris watched as her husband received 16 shocks from lifeguards and Queensland Ambulance Service (QAS) paramedics before being taken to the Sunshine Coast University Hospital (SCUH) in a critical condition.
“When he collapsed, the nippers were the first that responded and they said to me on Tuesday that by the time they got to him, he was already changing colour,” Brooke said.
“The other lifeguards came running down and because the tide was coming in, the lifeguards built a little barrier with the sand so that the water wouldn’t rush over Ed. They were amazing.”
After everything they went through, Brooke said the most horrific part for her was the phone calls she had to make on the first night.
“The worst part for me was having to ring my children and say ‘You need to fly up, the hospital is keeping Dad alive until you get here’.”
Edward went on to spend a month in hospital at SCUH, where he had a long recovery process that included learning to walk again.
“Ed’s a very strong man. He’s very determined,” Brooke said.
“I think one of the things we’ve learnt as a family is to make more memories.
“He would’ve been a memory, but he’s here to make memories, so however long we’ve got him for, we want to enjoy our time together.
“If anyone can take anything from our experience, it would be to know what your partner wants as far as funeral arrangements and make sure your wills are in place. I had those in place, so I never had to worry if I was making the right decisions because I already knew what he wanted.”
The couple returned to Noosa Main Beach on Tuesday 10 September for the first time since the incident to thank the first responders who helped save Edward’s life.
“It was important for me to thank them for saving Ed’s life. I don’t think people in those roles get thanked and rewarded enough,” Brooke said.
“We also wanted to make a new, happy memory of Noosa because my memory was a horrific one of Ed getting shocked on the beach.”
Noosa lifeguard supervisor Rowan Simpson said the reunion was a wholesome experience for the lifeguards.
“It’s very beautiful to be able to help, and then to also get really nice feedback from that person,” Rowan said.
“It made us all tear up when he said he was now able to walk his daughter down the aisle. It set the tone for the rest of the meet and greet.”
Rowan arrived on the beach about half way through the incident in 2023 to help with crowd control.
“It was overcast and wasn’t a very nice day when it happened. We helped the QAS paramedics take the patient up into their van, and then went back to the tower and did a really good debrief. Having someone else’s life in your hands is always pretty intense,” he said.
“The defibrillator is the difference between saving someone’s life so it’s vital that we have that in our emergency kits.”
Rowan said there was a defibrillator on the lifeguard tower at Noosa Main Beach for public use.
“It’s there for public use after-hours when the lifeguards aren’t available and the Noosa World Surfing Reserve put it in,” he said.
