By Abbey Cannan
Winter Olympics gold medallist Steven Bradbury has made a habit of being at the right place, at the right time, with the right skills, and now he’s being recognised for his bravery.
The Governor-General recently announced the latest Australian Bravery Decorations, and the OAM has been commended for brave conduct for his actions during the rescue of four teenagers from rough seas in Caloundra on 5 March 2022.
“Congratulations to the brave people that we are recognising today. Each was confronted with a perilous situation and made a decision to try and save others – their courage is admirable and their selflessness should be celebrated,” Australian Governor General David Hurley said.
At approximately 2pm, Bradbury was with his son Flyn at Kings Beach when he saw a girl in trouble in the water between Kings Beach and Bulcock Beach.
“It wasn’t pleasant conditions. I just happened to glance out the back and I saw what I thought was a log, and then I saw that it wasn’t a log, it was a head,” he said. “And I just instantly knew that whoever was out there, shouldn’t have been out there and was probably in trouble.”
“So I got my son’s board off him and told him to run to the lifeguards and I paddled out. Once I got close to this girl, she spotted me and the fear in her eyes was something that I couldn’t unsee for a long time. The first couple of nights afterwards I had trouble sleeping.
“As I got closer to her I realised that there were three more heads further out right in the impact zone getting smashed.
“It was two plus metre swells and every time a wave came we were just getting smashed.”
The waves and rip prevented Bradbury from moving the board and the group were stuck in a cycle of being pulled out by the rip, washed a short distance back by large waves, before being taken out by the rip again.
Shortly after, lifesavers arrived in an inflatable boat and took two of the girls back to shore. Bradbury was able to paddle the board and the last girl back to shore where an ambulance had arrived.
“The first girl that I rescued, Zoe, hugged me so hard that she almost took the rest of the air out of my lungs that I had left. She said ‘thank you for saving my life’ and I kind of went weak at the knees,” he said.
“My son reacted really well as well because he understood, without being told, the gravity of the situation. As soon as told him, he bolted for the lifeguards.
“Those girls didn’t have anyone supervising them, weren’t strong swimmers and weren’t swimming in between the flags. The lesson there is that you swim in between the flags.”
Bradbury said he’s happy to accept the award, but felt like anyone else in that situation would’ve done the same thing.
“To me, it wasn’t even a question, it was just go time,” he said.
“I was a regular visitor to the Sunny Coast and still get up there a fair bit but don’t have a property there anymore. I’m headed to Noosa soon to surf during the school holidays.”
Much like Noosa’s swimming champion Alexa Leary, Bradbury fought back from major injuries in sport.
In 1994 a race accident resulted in him losing four litres of blood and requiring 111 stitches, and in 2000 a training mishap broke his neck.
He fought back from both injuries and went on to become the ‘Accidental Hero’ and Olympic Gold medallist in 2002.
Para swimmer Alexa is celebrating a gold medal from the world championships, just two years after nearly losing her life in a horrific cycling accident.
She’s now set her sights on competing at the Paris Paralympics next year, and as a motivational speaker Bradbury has some words of encouragement.
“I was a speed skater from Brisbane, so I didn’t get paid a lot of attention in my career until the day that I retired,” he said.
“When I was training, the chorus of the song I would always listen to was ‘What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger’. And so that’s exactly what I would say to Alexa.”
Bradbury has now spoken at over 1350 conferences and events in 21 countries.
“I do a combination of motivational speaking and stand up comedy,” he said.
“I’ve also got a beer company and a brewery Last Man Standing Australian Lager and we’re available at Dan Murphy’s in Noosaville.”
Visit stevenbradbury.com or lmsbrewing.com.au
