Mum leads rescue effort as rip sweeps boys out to sea

Lana Maguinness with sons Sol (left) and Noah Purchase. Photo / Bay of Plenty Times

"Mummy, help me". These were the desperate words Noah Purchase, 11, yelled as waves engulfed him when an evening outing went terrifyingly wrong.

Lana Maguinness had taken Noah and brother Sol Purchase, 7, to Main Beach at Mt Maunganui for a swim.

Noah was learning to surf and was practising his paddling. Sol was frolicking in surf no deeper than his waist. Ms Maguinness stood watch.

For several seconds, she looked down at the sand. When she looked back up, her boys were gone. Then she saw them again, caught in a rip.

"It all happened so quickly. I saw Sol was being taken out too far so I yelled to Noah, 'Go get Sol,"' she said.

By that time, Sol had drifted about 100m and the water was well over the boys' heads.

"As they drifted towards the centre of the beach, I saw the water changing and it got very rough," Ms Maguinness said. "Then a wave threw Noah off his board and it came out of his hands. It was then when I knew they were in trouble.

"I lost sight of him [Noah]. He started to yell, "Mummy, help me" and then I just ran," said Ms Maguinness.

Sol was the farthest out to sea and in a severe state of panic. He began climbing on his mother when she reached him, dragging her under the water.

"It felt like an eternity but I looked up and there was Craig."

Craig Wearne had been playing beach volleyball and was alerted when one of his teammates heard screaming.

Noah's surfboard had been washed back to shore, so Mr Wearne took it and swam out to help. "I got to the older boy and I put him on the board and pushed him back into a wave, so he could catch it. Then I went out to Lana and [Sol] and just supported them."

Minutes later, another member of the public, an unknown man, swam out to help Mr Wearne assist Sol and his mother. This man was met by Justine Brennan and Megan Scott from a nearby surfboat crew as he brought Sol back to shore. The two adults were able to make their own way back.

On Tuesday night at Mt Maunganui Surf Club, Ms Maguinness and her sons were reunited with their rescuers for the first time.