Three summers ago, I was walking with my husband along a South Coast beach when we noticed a woman diving into the surf with her two teenage children. From where we stood, it was obvious they were heading straight into a rip. They were 500 metres from the flags. Close enough to have walked there with ease. But far enough away to drown before help arrived.
The mother managed to keep her feet and grab her daughter. However, her son was carried away from the beach, so she followed him into the water. To my horror, my husband ran across the beach and followed them in.
I stood and watched as all three were swiftly washed away from the shore. Luckily, the boy and his mother could both swim, but they were fighting against the current. My husband was calling for them to swing across the beach and out of the rip. Fortunately they did, so this story has a happy ending. Everyone survived, but it could have ended in tragedy.
As they emerged from the surf, I pointed down the beach and roared at the mother in white-hot rage. ‘Swim between the flags’, I yelled. ‘My husband could have drowned trying to save you and your children because you chose to ignore this warning.’
Australians…
