Lifeguards in right place at right time for injured man

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

A man who suffered a suspected spinal injury in the ocean on Sunday afternoon was fortunate lifeguards from the Wainui Surf Life Saving Club  happened to be there for their annual general meeting.

At around 2.50pm, Riversun Wainui lifeguards saw the 50-year-old man playing with two children in the surf when he was knocked over by a wave.

“We heard the man yelling from the water and calling for help and quickly realised he was in big trouble,” Wainui director of lifeguarding Belinda Slement said.

She and another club member, experienced nurse Jo Whibley, went to the man’s aid.

Mrs Slement ran into the shallow water fully clothed, got to the man and realised he had hit his head on the sand.

“He couldn’t stand well and had tingly arms and legs.”

Mrs Slement, an advanced lifeguard who only recently completed her pre-hospital emergency care, took the lead and quickly assisted the man out of the water.

“Two members of the public helped me. Our main focus was to get him out of the water and immobilise him as soon as possible.”

The man was put into a stable condition until a St John Ambulance crew arrived to transport him to Gisborne Hospital.

“Two young girls who were there, one of which was a young member of Wainui club, helped out and they followed our instructions really well.

“They stayed calm and were really helpful in the early stages of the incident, getting the club’s emergency trauma pack and spinal board. “

More lifeguards arrived to assist until the ambulance arrived.

“The man was in a lot of pain but we kept him calm until the ambulance team arrived,” Mrs Slement said. “It was definitely a case of being in the right place, at the right time.

“The really good news later was that the man was assessed, scanned in hospital for possible spinal damage and those scan results all came back clear.”

Mrs Slement said the incident illustrates that surf lifeguards are  never off-duty .

“The skills we learn play an important role in our community every day of the year.”

The Wainui club wants to put a community AED (defibrillator) at the club in an accessible location for all the Wainui community access in case of any emergency.

“Currently there is no community AED that is accessible every day 24-7.

“We have sourced funding of the AED approved cabinet but are looking for a donation or someone who might be keen to fund the additional AED at a cost of  $3000.”