Spirited Rescue in Milford Surf

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 256, 19 January 1928, Page 11

Spirited Rescue in Milford Surf

YOUNG WOMAN SAVED SURF CLUB’S EFFORT Caught in the vicious undertow of the biggest surf seen at Milford for months, a girl, suffering from cramp, was swept out yesterday afternoon, and she owes her life to the Milford Life-Saving Club. Maisie Purves, aged 17 years, of Pukemiro, a recent arrival from Scotland, was in the water at the Castor Bay end of Milford Beach, when she became cramped. She screamed for hetlp, and. helpless in the breakers, she was swept out of her depth in a few minutes. There was a sensation on the beach and people collected on the shore. A lad named Roy Holmes had the presence of mind to sprint to the Surf Club’s dug-out. where Mr. Thomas Hilliker was on duty. RESCUERS IN CLOTHES Meanwhile, Mr. Herbert Warbrick and a Maori Air. Riwiri George, wli . were erecting the new dance hall near the beach, had heard the girl screaming, and had rushed to the water. Botn men. fully clothed, plunged in and Warbrick, who is an experienced waterman. actually managed to reach th*> girl who was almost overcome. But the waves tore her from his grasp. Mr. Hilliker swam out swiftly a* soon as the call was received, lea'v - ing Mr. Colin Bacon, another surf club member, to bring the reel and lin. out. After a battle with the surf Hilliker reached the girl, who was then unconscious, and together with Warbrick, managed to bring her in some distance. The swimmer with the line, Mr. Bacon, came out soon afterwards, and several junior members of the club, who have been trained for only a few weeks, hauled the beltman and th‘ rescued girl to the sfcore. The rescuers canped the unconscious girl to the house of Airs. Elliott and they worked at resuscitation for half an hour before Miss Purves had recovered. She was wrapped in blankets and kept warm until the arrival of a doctor, who complimented the men on their efficiency, for the girl was completely out of danger.

Had not the surf men given their expert services to the girl it is probable that she would no longer have been alive when the doctor came. Completely recovered to-day. Miss Purves, who is living with Mrs. Burl, in Sea View Road, could smile about the rescue. “I really thought I was gone, and it seemed ages before the men came,” she said. *T am not a good swimmer, and I could do nothing with the cramp. I think 1 was still conscious when the rescuers reached me because I can remember them speaking to me.” The surf men were of course modest about the rescue, taking it merely as part of their strenuous sport. Hilliker said, “There was a strong rip and I had a good fight.” The club’s services to bathers ar** praiseworythy, and they need morequipment, including reels, for both ends of the beach, and a pavilion.