THREE people thrown overboard from a small fishing boat owe their lives to an an off-duty lifesaver who came to the rescue after spotting them struggling in heavy Victorian surf.
Jimmy Matthews, a lifesaver at Apollo Bay in Victoria`s southwest, said he was waiting to go for a surf yesterday afternoon near Skenes Creek along the Great Ocean Road when he saw five people in trouble in the water.
The three men and two women, all wearing life jackets, had been tipped out of their 5m aluminium boat and were struggling in the big swell about 100m from the beach.
Mr Matthews, 46, a local builder, said he had been watching them for a while before he realised they needed help.
Two men had managed to reach reached shore, but the other three remained in trouble.
Mr Matthews swam out and grabbed one of the women and took her back to shore.
"I went for her first because I thought her head was bleeding but it turned out to be pink hair dye," Mr Matthews said.
He then returned and took hold of the second woman while the man followed them in.
"The girls were pretty panicky," he said.
But he wasn`t finished yet – he grabbed the rope coil from the dinghy which had washed up on shore and dragged it in.
A modest Mr Matthews, who has rescued swimmers in his volunteer work as a surf lifesaver, did not want to make too much of his bravery.
"I was wet anyway so I just kept going back in," he said.
After all were safe and in the hands of paramedics, he turned around and went surfing.
"That`s what I went there for," he said.
Life Saving Victoria spokesman Guy Britt said: "This is a great example of Victorians doing the right thing and avoiding a potential tragedy.
"The motorist was not only in the right place at the right time, but had the right skills to successfully carry out this rescue."
