South Dunedin teenager Micah Wharerimu is being called a hero for helping save the lives of his best friend and two of his uncles after they were swept out to sea while fishing at Cape Saunders yesterday.
One of those rescued was in the intensive care unit and the others were assessed in the emergency department at Dunedin Hospital last night.
One was later discharged and the other admitted to a general ward.
They were winched from the sea by the Otago Regional Rescue Helicopter at 4.20pm, more than an hour after one of the men and Micah's 14-year-old friend were swept off rocks by a large wave, and the other man jumped in to help.
It was the quick thinking of Micah, also 14, which gave his family and friend a fighting chance.
He ran to retrieve a life ring which was installed at Cape Saunders by Coastguard Dunedin last year, following the death of a man fishing from the rocks in 2010.
Micah, a King's High School pupil, said he found a safe place to throw the ring to his uncles and his friend, and as they clung to the device he drove his uncle's van to the nearest dwelling, from where he alerted emergency services at 3.30pm.
Within an hour, the helicopter was hovering over the three fishermen, who had drifted 1km and were out of sight from shore.
Micah said his friend and uncle were collecting mussels for bait when hit by a large wave.
A man involved in the rescue said there was a 2m swell at the time, but every eighth wave was almost 20m high.
One of Micah's uncles was wearing a wetsuit, because he planned to go diving, but the others just wore clothes.
None had life jackets.
Senior Constable Lox Kellas, of Portobello, praised Micah's efforts.
"Full marks to the young fella. He kept a level head," he said.
A Coastguard member, Snr Const Kellas said it was the first time the life ring had been used since its installation at Cape Saunders.
"It's proven its worth. There are three people here to tell their story now, courtesy of the life ring. It worked well and we are really pleased," he said.
Half a dozen fatalities had occurred in the Cape Saunders area in the past two decades.
Senior Sergeant Brian Benn, a water rescue squad member, said if the life ring had not been in place, the three men would have perished.
A combination of factors saved their lives - the short time it took rescuers to reach the scene, the quick thinking of one of the party and the life ring, he said.
"It was being in the right place at the right time, and it all came together."
Five members of the water rescue squad were at Helicopters Otago attending a Rescue Co-ordination Centre air observer course when the call came in, cutting the response time from 15 minutes to four.
"A few more minutes and we could have had a different result," Snr Sgt Benn said.
Helicopters Otago managing director Graeme Gale, who piloted the Otago Regional Rescue Helicopter, said he was surprised there was not a fatality, given the rough conditions.
"There was no way they'd have been able to get out.
'They were pretty battered and bruised," he said.
