Rescuers say saving man a joint effort

The popular Blue Pools were the scene of a dramatic rescue last Sunday. Photo: Tim Miller.
The popular Blue Pools were the scene of a dramatic rescue last Sunday. Photo: Tim Miller.
A family involved in the rescue of a 24-year-old Australian tourist known only as Zac,  who nearly drowned in the  Blue Pools last weekend, have  praised all those involved in what they say was a "massive team effort."

A spokesman for the family, which did not want to be identified, said if one person was taken out of the equation on the day, it would have been a completely different outcome.

There have been calls for several individuals involved in the rescue to be given bravery awards, including a 20-year-old life guard from St Clair Surf Life Saving Club who was the first person to swim to Zac underwater.

The  life guard said all her family were involved in the Makarora River rescue and had declined to speak to the media previously out of "respect for Zac’s privacy", but recent media reports  prompted them to speak out.

"There is one fact that we want to correct: Zac was never stuck under a rock. He was too heavy for me to pull up to the surface and by the time my uncle had entered the water Zac had been taken by the current. He was five to 10 metres away from where I had last seen him and had sunk down to the bottom of the pool.

"People on the bridge were shouting directions and then a Dutch guy saw him and dived in and tried to rescue him.  When he surfaced,  he said the three of us would have to have to try together and on the count of three we all went down. The Dutch guy managed to grab hold of Zac’s T-shirt and then the three of us pulled him up," she said.

The woman’s uncle  ran the 1.5km track from the Blue Pools to the car park on State Highway 6 and then drove  10km to Makarora to raise the alarm. He said he wanted to stress how everyone who was at the Blue Pools  had "pulled together" to save Zac.

"The reason Zac survived was because every person did something,  whether it was performing CPR to rubbing him to keep him warm to helping carry him to the rescue helicopter. You had strangers caring and working together as teams and it was a good result because every little thing saved his life."

It is believed the rescued man, Zac, was discharged from Dunedin Hospital on Thursday.

Kerrie.Waterworth@odt.co.nz

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