KEY POINTS:
A man with one leg was instrumental in the rescue of five people caught in a rip near his Poverty Bay home.
Amputee meat worker Ray Johnson was at home in Tokomaru Bay, north of Gisborne over the New Year holiday when his wife saw people being washed out to sea.
He grabbed his flipper and boogie board and headed down to the beach with his brother in law, Andy Hill.
A Manutuke family of five, two young children, their grandfather and parents, were being carried out in a rip.
Mr Johnson went to help the mother and 8-year-old boy who clung together.
Mr Hill helped the grandfather.
"I managed to get the boy in and the mother made her way back with us," Mr Johnson said.
Mr Johnson returned to the rescue, he could see the father repeatedly going under the water while attempting to lift his 6-year-old daughter to the surface.
"You can't do that kind of thing for too long before you wear yourself out."
Neighbours had joined the rescue and managed to bring the father and daughter to shore, so Mr Johnson swam out to Mr Hill and the grandfather still caught in the rip.
Together they brought the grandfather in to shore.
"I was really worried for the father, he was not good. He was spewing a lot. But it was good to see them all there."
The family were taken to Gisborne Hospital.
"I just hope no one else has to go through that. It has definitely made the locals more aware when they are swimming."
Mr Johnson lost his leg in a motorcycle accident 13-years-ago and now has a prosthetic limb.
- NZPA
