Several surf life-savers were upset after a harrowing rescue in which a 14-year-old Dunedin girl nearly drowned at Brighton Beach yesterday.
Surf Life Saving New Zealand Otago and Southland club support officer Sam Clutterbuck said the girl had been swimming between the flags, but went out past the breaking waves. Witnesses said about 1.30pm she began screaming and waving her arms.
''She got out of her depth,'' Mr Clutterbuck said.
''She put her hands up and the team switched into action.''
Several swimmers and an IRB were used in the rescue and the teen was brought back to shore with ''suspected water on her lungs''.
''She was so close to drowning. The young rescuers were quite emotional because it was so close,'' he said.
The girl was taken to the Brighton Surf Life Saving Club where staff tried to call an ambulance.
But their calls kept cutting out, so a staff member ran across to the Brighton Domain to get a St John first response unit which was at the Brighton Gala Day.
The unit treated the girl while they waited for an ambulance to arrive.
Because of large queues of traffic heading towards the gala day, it took the ambulance about half an hour to get there, Mr Clutterbuck said.
A St John spokeswoman believed the call might have cut out because it was made from a mobile phone, and the mobile phone system might have been overloaded with the large influx of people in the area at the time.
The 14-year-old was taken to Dunedin Hospital and is expected to make a full recovery.
Mr Clutterbuck said it was a timely reminder for beachgoers to swim between the flags, swim with a friend, and know their limits.
