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A surfer feared he would not make it back alive as he battled 4m waves during an exhausting 7km paddle back towards the shore.
Builder Chris Silcock was surfing with friends on Sunday at a remote South Westland beach when he became caught in a rip that sucked him about 100m offshore.
The 33-year-old's friends were unable to get to him and went to call for help. Mr Silcock was left alone on his surfboard, unable to paddle back to shore because of the heavy seas.
"It took me about three attempts to get in before I realised that if I tried to do that again I was probably going to die because I was exhausted and it [the sea] was just too big," he said.
Mr Silcock decided about midway through the ordeal to try to paddle around the headland, near Bruce Bay, between Haast and Fox Glacier, to get into shore.
It took him an exhausting 7km - and two hours - of paddling to get to a spot where he could make it to rocks and be helped out of the water by rescuers.
"The rip was taking me that way, and that was the way the currents were flowing, so it was a matter of paddling until I couldn't, then rest," he said.
"I had one friend follow me along the beach but he couldn't do anything. He was just there for moral support.
"Through hand signals I was trying to tell him what I was trying to do."
Two helicopters were sent to rescue Mr Silcock, but were not needed in the end.
After being helped out of the water, a local bed and breakfast gave him a hot shower. He was recovering yesterday.
Police stressed that while West Coast beaches offered good recreational opportunities, they included dangerous and remote coastline.
"People need to be aware that help is a long, long way away and that there will be significant delays in emergency services arriving on site," said Constable Sean Judd.
Mr Silcock has been surfing for about20 years.
"I've been in some heavy situations before (but) this was would be the heaviest. It was a horrific situation, but I made it in."
He was undecided yesterday whether he would return to surfing.
