By Margaret Maccoll
Noosa Heads lifesaver and St Andrew’s Anglican College Year 12 student Jack Mohr, 16, received a special acknowledgement by Noosa Heads Lifesaving Club last week for his selfless act saving the life of new mother.
The woman in her 20s named Hannah was caught in a rip in dangerous surf conditions about a kilometre south of the patrolled area at Peregian Beach, having slipped off for a quick swim about 4.30pm after leaving her young baby with her husband.
Lucky for her Jack, a competitive ocean swimmer and his friend Aurelia were walking along the beach. Aurelia spotted someone in trouble just inside the back breakers. With no rescue apparatus or board and without thinking of his own safety Jack rushed straight into the water while Aurelia called for back up.
“I went out and pulled her parallel along the beach and back to shore,” Jack said. “It was pretty big surf. It was 4 to 6ft surf out the back. I do a lot of training with the big surf out at Peregian. I’m pretty confortable in that sort of stuff. I swam out in the rip she was in and got out pretty quickly. I just dragged her in. There were a couple of big waves. We kept going under the waves. She was a bit panicked. She didn’t say much when we were out in the water.”
By the time they returned to shore lifeguards and police had arrived on the beach. “She was alright – a bit shocked. She sat on the beach for a bit and then walked away,” Jack said.
Club president Ross Fisher said Jack most certainly saved the woman’s life. At the breakfast meeting on Friday the club’s oldest member Phil Cove acknowledged his brave action, saying Jack was “a wonderful example of the people who go through the club who not only put their own lives at risk helping others but do it with confidence and demonstrate why we are lifesavers”.
Jack will this month travel to Sydney to compete in the ocean beach series swim and will contest the Australian titles in April in Perth.
