Bravery honour for Narooma man
Posted
A Narooma man who nearly drowned while trying to rescue another swimmer has been honoured in the Australian Bravery Awards announced today.
Ian Gunn was at Kianga Beach with friends in November, 2006 when he noticed one of the group in difficulty 300 metres out to sea.
He swam out and tried to hold up the man, who kept slipping beneath the surface.
But eventually, at the point of exhaustion himself, Mr Gunn was forced to release the man and managed to get back to the beach before collapsing.
Other rescuers later recovered the swimmer, but he could not be resuscitated.
This morning, Mr Gunn says reflected on the incident.
"It changed me in that you realise just how quickly things can happen ... you're just sitting on the beach enjoying the view, five minutes later there's a tragedy," he said.
"You wouldn't wish [it] on anyone to go through it, but it's just something that most people would do ... I just hope that I never have to go through it again and no-one ever has to be put in that situation, but I think if they are people find that they just react without thinking."
