Surfer dies despite his son’s frantic effort to pull him out of the water and perform CPR after a ‘medical episode’ caused him to fall off his wave ski
- A 74-year-old man has drowned after an alleged medical episode
- Dragged out of the water unconscious by his own son
A surfer has died after suffering a suspected medical episode while in the water despite being dragged unconscious by his son.
The 74-year-old was surfing Currumbin Alley, on the southern tip of the Gold Coast, at around 7:30am on Wednesday before falling off his wave ski and failing to resurface.
The man’s son then dragged him to shore, with the help of nearby locals and surf instructors, where they desperately performed CPR to resuscitate the man.
The emergency services arrived soon after and took over the resuscitation attempt, but were unsuccessful.
The man passed away after about 30 minutes of CPR.
Emergency services arrived at the scene after the man’s son and nearby surf instructors pulled him ashore and performed CPR on him for about half an hour.
Gold Coast chief lifeguard Chris Maynard told the Courier Mail the man was a local surfer.
“(He was) unconscious, not breathing, it was not a good situation,” Wade Brenchley, a witness to the tragic incident, told Nine News.
“(They were) just trying to help get the guy to shore where we could get him to a safe palace and I guess start CPR.”
Justin Payne of the Queensland Ambulance Service said “despite resuscitation efforts by family, lifeguards and paramedics who arrived on scene, the patient could not be revived and has since died.”
The man could not be resuscitated and died at the scene, becoming one of many recent drownings on Queensland beaches this year.
The incident is one of many drownings on Queensland beaches this year.
A 39-year-old Ipswich man drowned while swimming in a big wave at Kings Beach, just south of the Sunshine Coast, on February 13.
That incident occurred just a couple of weeks after 21-year-old Jye Mattern went missing while swimming with her brother at nearby Teewah beach.
A 74-year-old surfer drowned after succumbing to a suspected medical episode and being swept out of the water at Currumbin Alley on the Gold Coast on Wednesday (file image)
The incident also comes just two weeks after a man nearly drowned on popular Noosa beach on March 2, a day after the body of a woman washed up on neighboring Peregian beach.
Statistics show that 31 people drowned across Australia last month.