KEY POINTS:
A teenager swam 3km to shore to help save his grandfather from drowning.
Jordahn Savage, 16, and his grandfather, 67, got into trouble when their 5.5m runabout started to sink at Tatapouri, 14km east of Gisborne, on Monday afternoon.
With no lifejackets or flares aboard, Jordahn decided to swim 3km to shore to raise the alarm.
He told his grandfather to hold on to one of the petrol tanks floating inside the boat while he took another one.
"I knew that my grandfather wouldn't last long in the water," he said.
He swam for about an hour to shore.
"I was tired but I knew that if I stopped, then it would have got worse. I was holding the petrol tank and I was just kicking full-on," said Jordahn.
When he reached the shore he went to Dive Tatapouri. The staff called emergency services.
Grandfather Patrick Savage made it to within 150m of the shore but was too exhausted to continue.
A Dive Tatapouri boat went out and carried him to safety.
He was flown to Gisborne Hospital with moderate hypothermia and minor injuries.
About 7am on the same day a man who fell into the sea at Lottin Pt in the eastern Bay of Plenty was saved by two women who pulled him out of the water, performed CPR on him and called for help.
Emergency services arrived and the Lion Foundation rescue helicopter took the man to Gisborne Hospital.
- NZPA
