THE QUICK-THINKING actions of a lifesaver in training and an idle beer keg literally saved the day as Matthew Neale raced into the surf one Friday morning to save the lives of a father and son who were caught in a rip at Marcoola Beach.
Matthew is six weeks into his Bronze Medallion Certification and had arrived at the beach for a training session but was a day early. Rather than waste the trip, he decided to go for a walk along the beach when he noticed the pair in distress.
Running back to the clubhouse he looked for a rescue board but to no avail due to the clubhouse still being shut at 7.00am.
Matthew grabbed the next best thing, which in this case was an empty ‘Heads of Noosa’ beer keg. He sprinted back to the beach and swam out to the pair. He called out to the father and told him to hang in there and was eventually able to bring them back to shore safely and unharmed.
Matt said it was a very emotional experience.
“We’re both big ocker guys but I think we realised how close it was to a very different ending. Once we’d got over the shock, we shared a hug and both shed a tear,” Matthew said.
Brothers, Lance and Craig from Heads Of Noosa heard about the story and wanted to meet the hero who used one of their empty kegs to save two lives.
“Our kegs have been used for a lot of things over the years – barstools, makeshift weights, but never a floatation device,” Lance Masterton, Co-Founder and Head Brewer said.
“We were absolutely stoked that one of our kegs played a part in this rescue and Matt is an absolute legend, so we wanted to come down to Marcoola and thank him personally.”
Heads of Noosa were also only too happy to shout Matthew a brew or two for his heroic actions.
With the summer season just weeks away, this story certainly serves as a timely reminder to only swim between the red and yellow flags.