It's Summer in Australia and this past Saturday, six friends between the ages of 12 and 15, who are members of the Kiama Surf Life Saving Club, sprang into action when they heard screams at Kiama Beach. They’d been boogie boarding after lifeguard hours when they noticed several people in distress.
The surfers rushed to the aid of two teen girls, a mother, and her three children after they got caught in a rip current. Despite their initial fear, the boys used the skills they’d picked up in life-saving training to safely rescue the distressed beach-goers and bring them back to shore.
A few days earlier, just up the beach from the Kiama rescue, three high school friends stepped up to rescue a distressed tourist at Jones Beach. When they saw a young male swimmer caught in a rip current when lifeguards were off duty, they quickly used a surfboard to rescue him and bring him to shore.
The two rescue efforts highlight the importance of lifesaving training for kids and beach safety for the general public. Had it not been for the quick thinking and bravery of these two groups of teens, these incidents could easily have ended in tragedy.