News
David Daniels’ “Double Duty” wins St Kilda 2nd Place for bp Rescue of the Month
Wednesday, 17 March 2021Press release
March 17, 2021
[Image: St Kilda Surf Life Saving Club Surf Lifeguard, David Daniels, conducted two rescues in one day while enjoying some time off-duty with his family at Brighton Beach in early February.]
On February 1st, St Kilda Surf Life Saving Club Surf Lifeguard, David Daniels, was enjoying some time off-duty with his wife and three children at Dunedin’s Brighton Beach.
Suddenly, he noticed a woman waving her arms and pointing to a small, rocky island just off shore. Daniels followed her eye line and saw three children being swept out in a rip current.
The beach was unpatrolled, so Daniels grabbed his surf board and paddled out. By the time he reached the group, two of the kids were still in the rip and one was clinging to the rocks. He paddled to the first patients and helped the children back to the beach before paddling back out to the rocks for the third.
Meanwhile, Police were notified of the incident and called in the Surf Life Saving Otago Callout team. The team arrived just as Daniels completed the rescue.
Shortly after, local reporters were on the beach interviewing David about his rescue. While the interview was happening, a small fishing boat capsized as it returned to shore. Daniels left the interview and again entered the water, swimming out to the boat to provide assistance in getting the occupants to shore and then helping roll the boat back upright in the shallows.
bp Head of Country NZ, Matt Elliott says bp is “incredibly proud” to back Surf Lifeguards like Daniels.
“bp is immensely proud to have partnered with Surf Life Saving New Zealand since 1968. The skills and bravery of Surf Lifeguards continue to impress our bp team and this rescue is another example of these amazing efforts.”
As the second-place winner of bp Rescue of the Month, Daniels’ club, St Kilda SLSC, will be recognised with $300-worth of bp gift vouchers.
REMEMBER BEACH BASICS
- If you see someone in trouble at the beach CALL 111 & ASK FOR THE POLICE. They have a direct line to both Surf Life Saving New Zealand and Coastguard.
- Always keep a close eye on young children in or near the water. KEEP CHILDREN WITHIN ARMS’ REACH at all times.
- IF YOU GET CAUGHT IN A RIP, REMEMBER THE 3RS RIP SURVIVAL PLAN: RELAX and float, RAISE your hand to signal for help and RIDE the rip until it finishes and you can swim to shore or help arrives.
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About SLSNZ
SLSNZ is the national association representing 74 surf lifesaving clubs with 18,000+ members, including more than 4,500 volunteer Surf Lifeguards. Our lifeguards patrol over 90 locations each summer and provide emergency call-out rescue services throughout Aotearoa, saving hundreds of lives each year and ensuring thousands return home safe after a day at the beach.
We do all this as a charity and rely on the generosity of the public, commercial partners, foundations and trusts for donations and financial contributions in order to lead and support our incredible front-line volunteer lifeguarding services.
For more information, please contact:
Mackenzie Koppel
Media and Communications Manager
Surf Life Saving NZ
021 757 433