At approximately 10.35pm on Monday 30th March 2013 Wellington Police received a report of a male person in the water, near Burdons Gate in Eastbourne.
The male was yelling for help, his cries for help were heard by a fisherman who had been fishing earlier in the evening and returned as he realised that he had dropped his cell phone and went back to find it.
The following units responded
· Hutt Police
· Wellington Maritime Police
· Westpac Rescue Helicopter
· Ambulance Service, along with Eastbourne Volunteers and Seaview Fire Service
The fisherman asked people on shore, who were trying to tow a vehicle nearby to assist locate the person in the water and they used torches to assist them. They saw he was in difficulty and his head went under water, at this stage he was more than 50 metres from shore.
The fisherman, a male and a female entered the water and swam out, locating the male floating face down unconcious and took about eight minutes to bring him back to shore. They immediately commenced CPR.
Police staff along with Fire Service arrived a short time later and continued CPR. The male was taken to Hospital in a serious condition.
The identity of the male is not known at this stage:
He is described as a male Indian approximately mid twenties to mid thirties. He was wearing a Maroon colour short sleeved polo shirt and a pair of black light-weight trousers. He was not carrying any form of ID on him.
Police would like to hear from anyone who knows the identity of this male and they should contact the Lower Hutt Police on: (04) 560-2600
Senior Sergeant Andre Kowalczyk said that the actions of the three members of the public who entered the water is to be applauded, they did an excellent job in very difficult circumstances and their efforts to enter the water to save this mans life were exceptional. The three rescuers are all young people and performed an exceptional rescue.
The males are 17 years old and 25 years old, the female is 15 years old.