GIRL RESCUED BY LIFE-SAVERS

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30933, 14 December 1965, Page 22

GIRL RESCUED BY LIFE-SAVERS

(New Zealand Prets Association) DUNEDIN, December 13. A young girl had a narrow escape from drowning at Tomahawk beach this evening.

She is Sonia Elizabeth Stephens, aged 14, of 42 Cannongate, a pupil of St. Dominic’s College.

Miss Stephens was swimming with a friend, Mr L. Scoular, aged 20, of St. Clair, when she got into difficulties.

Mr Scoular tried to rescue her, but failed. He swam ashore and drove to the St. Kilda beach, to get help from members of the surf life-saving club.

Five members of the club, including the club captain, Mr A. Waters, drove back with Mr Scoular to Tomahawk, where they found that Miss Stephens had drifted out from the beach, and could not be reached with the life-saving reel.

Mr Waters sent two of the club’s strongest swimmers, Messrs K Brown and M. O’Connell, into the heavy surf to try to rescue the girl, while he and the other life-savers went back to St. Kilda for the club’s canoe.

The police had been called, and a car from the South Dunedin Police Station pro-

vided an escort to and from St. Hilda. The canoe was launched with difficulty. It capsized about 100 yards from shore. Miss Stephens was found about quarter of a mile from the beach, floating on her back. “We hauled her in,” Mr Waters said, “gave her a bit of artificial respiration—she didn't need much—and started carefully back, as we couldn’t afford to capsize.” On the beach. Miss Stephens was given artificial respiration by St. John Ambulance men, and was taken to the Dunedin Hospital, where she was admitted for observation. Her condition tonight was reported to be satisfactory. Messrs Brown and O’Connell, who had been in the water the whole time of the rescue, then swam in, Mr Brown receiving some assistance from other club members using the life-saving reel.

“She is a very lucky girl,” Mr Waters said when he returned from the rescue. "If it hadn’t been for the

police escort provided when we went for the canoe—we were doing 70 miles an hour in places—then she almost certainly would have been drowned.” The save was the St. Kilda Club’s first for the year. It came 10 minutes before a practice session was due to start.

On their return from the beach, the members of the life-saving team were unloading their reel from a car when it slipped, fell to the ground and was severely damaged. "It was our best reel,” Mr Waters said. "We grabbed the first one to hand when we left, and dropping it now means that we are without a competition reel.”