Northland man risks his own life to save drowning crab fisherman

A man nearly drowned after he was pulled out by an apparent rip in Bream Bay. Photo / Supplied

A Northland man ignored the dangers to his own life before diving into "huge swells" to save a drowning crab fisherman on Easter Friday.

Bream Bay local Chad Goodhue said he was going for an afternoon walk along the beach, just south of Ruakaka, when he noticed three men in trouble in the surf.

"Two had managed to get themselves in and one was waving their arms about [in the waves].

"He wasn't that far out ... but I didn't really want to go out because it was getting quite dangerous."

He said an apparent rip had pulled one of the crab fishermen "just out of his depth".

"He wasn't getting pulled right out, but he was stuck on the ledge. He was just sought of floundering in the water.

"There was a 3m swell at least, it was very, very rough. Not the sort of weather that anyone would swim in. He was probably only another couple of minutes away from drowning."

Goodhue said he was "50/50" about whether to risk his own life to save the man, but after seeing two surfers go to help he waded into the waves.

"I rang 111 first, threw [the phone] on the ground, and jumped in the water. There were huge swells.

"When I went out I was probably 5m away from him and I was up to my chest ... I was more out there for moral support just in case he went down."

He said the fisherman was dragged back in by the surfer, "walked up [onto the beach] on his own steam and then just collapsed".

"The first two that came in seemed okay, I think it was more just shock for them."

Emergency services arrived at the beach shortly after.

A St John spokesman said two ambulances attended the incident near Tip Rd after reports of one person being rescued and other "washed out to sea" about 4.30pm.

One man was transported to Whangarei Hospital in a serious condition, while the other was in a moderate condition.

Goodhue said there are often rescues at Bream Bay during the summer, usually of tourists who "seem quite oblivious to the dangers".