the Sunday Project. See you then.
OSHER GUNSBERG: On Bondi Rescue... Ah!
..an unexplained medical condition lifeguards have never seen...
Looked like he was breaking his own thumbs.
Ambo is on the way.
Yeah, mate. Quicker the better.
Oh, he's blowing up.
..Harries lays down the law...
Dealing with this bodysurfer is like a challenge for me now.
..and...
..a different kind of rescue.
You can get it, mate. It's easy.
The rip will take you straight there.
(ALL LAUGH)
SONG: # Take me back to the
# Sweet times, the hot nights
# Everything is gonna be alright
# In the summertime
# Baby, in the summertime
# That is where I'll be. #
(RELAXED ROCK MUSIC)
Bondi at its best.
Golden sand.
A jewelled sea.
Far horizons.
ALL: Bondi!
(ALL CHEER)
But Mother Nature...
(THUNDER RUMBLES)
..doesn't always come to the party.
MAN: Oh, no!
But the biggest challenge in storm conditions
is keeping beachgoers safe.
There's a three-metre swell, and Bondi's rips are ferocious.
So for people coming down to have a swim today,
there is nowhere safe to swim.
Effectively right now, we have no sets of flags
on the whole of the beach.
For us to close the whole beach happens once a year, if that.
I could count on one hand the amount of times that happens.
Lifeguards can't stop swimmers from entering the water.
All they can do is warn them of the danger.
When there's no flags, they can go in anywhere along the beach.
So we have to be really mindful this afternoon,
if someone's coming down for a swim,
we have to watch him like a hawk
or advise them to come back tomorrow and not swim here at all today.
Thank you very much. (CHEERING, LAUGHTER)
Howling wind and wild surf is a magnet for some thrill seekers.
WHIPPET: Kite surfing.
I guess it's one of those sports
where they're looking for the worst weather.
They want it to be howling wind.
They're not allowed to come and use the ocean when the flags are up.
That can be very dangerous.
In terms of a sport, it's impressive to watch.
They're doing 40-foot-high jumps and moving at really fast speeds.
But safety-wise, it's an issue for us.
We can't have them share the ocean with the surfers and the swimmers.
As the storm passes, conditions ease.
The remaining swell has attracted hundreds of surfers.
Yeah, guys. Just a couple of board riders there.
You've drifted towards the flags again.
Just do us a favour and make your way north.
We do probably 5,000 to 6,000 PA announcements per year
just for board riders, not for swimmers,
to move those out of the red and yellow flags.
Even a bodysurfer with a hand board can present a hazard to swimmers.
Surf craft stipulates anything that propels you across the top of water,
which is a hand board.
So he's infringing the area himself now.
So he's disobeying a regulatory act.
He's considered a surf craft.
So he has to be with the rest of the surf craft.
Here he goes.
Harries has had run-ins with the same bodysurfer before.
He likes to have arguments
and I had to defuse a situation
where he was going to get punched out by a board rider.
Yeah, just to get that guy on the surfboard.
Guys, we need to keep this area clear, please.
But the bodysurfer won't move.
He'll just be saying, "Oh, that's not for me."
After he has been told multiple times.
Where is he now? He's right in the middle of the flags.
Oh, he's blowing up.
He's blowing up.
Threw his hands in the air.
Let me just do a PA.
Yeah, just once again,
to the fibreglass board riders, foam board riders,
hand wavers, uses any surf craft
that propels you across the top of water
is considered a surf craft.
You must remain on the outside of the surf craft prohibited sign.
It's the third time the bodysurfer has been told
to move out of the flags.
Yeah, I'll go down.
Dealing with this bodysurfer is like a challenge for me now.
I have to find the best way and best possible outcome
so he walks away happy.
He's not angry, he's not emotional, he doesn't want to attack me.
Any kind of surf craft can present a danger to swimmers.
None are permitted between the flags.
A bodysurfer with a hand board has been asked to move away
from the flags three times.
Fibreglass boards, foam boards, hand boards.
Anything that propels you across the top of water and is not motorised,
you must be on the outside of the surf craft sign.
Disobey the regulatory act, penalties may apply.
He's quite focused on removing everyone else
with the same category.
(LAUGHS)
He's got a board rider nearly ran him over.
We have had a conversation with this gentleman
on many occasions down here.
Some people believe that they have a right to their area
and he wants his own buffer zone.
Yes.
How are you?
So...so... I was trying to keep as close as...
I know. So what happens, right.
So you're considered a surf craft user.
Alright? So...
Yeah. So you're the same as a board rider.
OK, so.
Let's just make this the end, alright? Please. OK.
He was non-confrontational.
He wanted to know what the rules were.
That sign.
So please, mate, just...
He said, "Oh, yeah, someone has actually told me this before."
So it was a real positive outcome.
And two parties can work together better now.
Alright. Take care, matey.
Alright. See you.
This is going to be the last incident we're going to have
with this gentleman.
And pretty much when he goes out,
he's just going to be a fish in the ocean enjoying his time.
As Chappo patrols Bondi's rips...
Yes...
..a medical incident is reported on the promenade.
(MAN SPEAKS INDISTINCTLY)
OK. So whereabouts, mate?
I've gotcha. Yeah, yeah. I'll come up, mate.
I'll let you know.
Hello. OK.
Yeah.
Jack brings the defibrillator
in case the patient is suffering a heart attack.
A bystander gives Chappo the heads-up.
Hello, mate.
Yeah. OK.
OK. We'll get an ambulance.
Hey, mate, how are you? What's your name?
Yes, Kane. And have you got any chest pain?
Yeah, I can see that.
No chest pain?
OK.
Has this happened before?
What you want me to do?
Can I massage your arms?
Like that?
He was complaining of pain in his hands,
and I looked down and he was gripping them really hard.
Where are you hurting?
His fingers were white
and almost looked like he was breaking his own thumbs.
He was gripping it that tight.
Ah! Ah!
His grip was insane.
I don't know if he's normally that strong,
whether he was full of adrenaline.
It felt like he was breaking my fingers with that grip
and I was trying to help him out.
You right, Kane?
Ah.
Let's give him some oxygen.
His pulse was just all over the shop.
At one stage he was as low as 44,
and then it was rocketing up to 110.
And that's when the hands would start to just
go into the death grip.
We haven't got any shade, do we? Nuh.
Alright. Come on, mate.
Let's get you up on the grass.
Up, up, up, up, up.
If the pulse is going from 44 to 110,
alarm bells are ringing straightaway.
Your heart shouldn't be jumping
in between those two numbers so quickly.
So something's going on.
And do you have any medical conditions?
Yes? No?
Yeah, mate, look, this guy's not well. So...
Yeah, the quicker, the better.
Clenched hands could be a symptom of a panic attack.
Lifeguards are concerned it could also indicate a heart condition.
Hey, Jack.
The defibrillator is a precaution in case Kane goes into cardiac arrest.
Just get it ready.
The clenched hands is a bad one.
How are you feeling, Kane?
Bit better? OK.
Yeah. We got your hands, mate. They're getting better.
Yeah, he's not well.
Yeah, it's definitely...
Don't be surprised if it's cardiac.
His breathing's getting... Hey, Kane.
Kane. Kane. And then...
Then he sort of just stops talking.
When he was just lying there, his pulse was rocketing up to 110,
and he's almost like he's, you know,
done a couple of hundred-metre sprints back to back.
Kane?
Alarm bells are going off.
So all we really want is that ambulance to get there
and get there fast.
Nothing.
Yeah, something's not right.
Kane.
Kane?
Jack and Chappo treat a patient
with a disturbing unexplained medical condition.
Ambo is on the way.
Yeah, mate. Look, this guy's not well.
The man has excruciating pain in his hands
and a wildly erratic pulse.
OK. Thank you.
Lifeguards are concerned about reported chest pains.
Oxygen treatment helps revive the man.
That's it, buddy. You're OK.
Hey, Kane. How are you, mate?
Are you feeling a bit better, Kane?
OK, mate. We've got the ambulance down here to come and check you out.
We're not letting you leave here until we see the ambulance.
OK, mate?
Yeah, I know. You check with the doctor?
He mentioned some mental health issues,
which leans me towards maybe a panic attack or an anxiety attack.
Maybe heart. Maybe heart.
Yeah. OK. Have you got any pains in your chest?
(SIRENS WAIL)
Here they come now.
MAN: Relax your hands. Relax.
The doctors are here now, mate.
You might not have to go to hospital.
Hello. How are you? I'm good. How are you?
This is Kane. Hey, Kane.
My name's Anna and I've got my partner Dan here with me.
Are you on any medications?
Yeah, tell me. Go on.
Do you remember what it was for?
Yeah?
You know, we're just worried about
him having a heart attack, basically.
That's... That's what we're kind of set up for.
For a minute there, it was kind of going that way, I think, but...
..he looks better already.
MAN: It happened last week.
It happened... The same thing happened last week?
Yeah. And is...
Is that why you went to the hospital?
Yeah. Yeah.
OK.
Might be a good idea to come up to hospital just for a check-up.
I'm a little bit concerned, and...
No, no.
Yeah.
With so much uncertainty around the condition,
lifeguards and first responders are anxious
the man gets a more thorough examination.
What about if we just check out your heart in the ambulance?
Come on, mate.
Just one more check-up and then that's it, OK?
We can take you home if you like.
Come on, mate. Let's do that, hey?
Yeah, I think so.
Come on, let's walk to the ambo.
OK.
JACK: We like to learn from each of our patients
whether we could have done something better.
So when it's unresolved, we don't really get that learning experience.
But, you know, he left conscious and alive,
so we're always happy with that result.
Even in shallow water, poor swimmers can drown in seconds.
Singlets spots two swimmers in trouble
just metres from the shoreline.
Noah.
SINGLETS: They're not far from the beach,
but really having a lot of difficulty.
One looks like he's almost going under
but climbing the ladder.
One swimmer struggles to keep his head above water.
The other manages to signal for help.
It looks like a kid.
He's going to have to go quick here.
Two swimmers are in trouble just metres from shore.
One man is close to drowning.
Right. You gotta climb on.
He's just got to him.
You good?
Get your breath back a little bit, then we're going to climb on.
The man was swimming outside the safety of the red and yellow flags.
Yeah. That one is not far from the shore,
but it's certainly a struggle for them.
Alright. Belly on the board. Face that way.
Yep. Perfect.
Had that have been in the flags, no problems at all.
It's a beautiful sandbank down there where people can stand up and swim.
But these weak swimmers continue to swim in the wrong areas
and this is what happens.
I could already hear him yelling "Help" on the sand.
We got there. He was pretty panicky.
Grabbed him, brought him back in.
Yeah. Didn't get the hair wet.
Don't swim here. It's very dangerous.
The four friends are from Korea.
It's just their third time at Bondi.
If we spot someone with rubber rings,
arm floaties, and goggles,
while they're just going for a quick dip,
it doesn't really fill us with much confidence
of their swimming ability.
There are a couple of big red flags
and they proved to turn out to be true.
A fun trip to the beach... a near tragedy.
Blow-up toys come in all shapes and sizes.
(LAUGHS)
Middle Flags to Central.
Go ahead.
There's a runaway unicorn heading south.
It's moving fast.
Lifeguards have rescued tens of thousands of swimmers,
but never an inflatable one-horned mythical creature.
JAKE: There's a unicorn out there.
It seems to be blowing with quite a strong nor-easter,
destined to be onto the rocks in the boot quite soon.
For Jake, this is not an urgent lifeguard matter.
This is Jetski. Couple of clubbies out there.
We'll give that one to them.
(LAUGHS)
There's his owner. White bucket hat.
Returned to its owner, it's a job well done.
Oh, no way.
He's just let it go.
Again.
One job all day. Just get the unicorn.
Get him on the beach.
Get him to safety.
The unicorn has bolted.
He's given up.
Mate, he ain't getting that thing.
Look at this guy. He's devo.
Mate, should have worn your unicorn leash.
(BOTH LAUGH)
Gone.
What happened?
(LAUGHS)
Quentin is from France.
He's been living in Bondi with his inflatable friend for two years.
It's Quentin's relationship with Licorne that's on the rocks.
(ALL LAUGH)
QUENTIN: Yeah.
Yeah, nah. He's had a good day.
The unicorn's going to bed. See you, brother. (LAUGHS)
Next time...
..when seconds can make the difference between life and death.
Thought I had a bit more time. He was in a bad way.
And Hoppo celebrates a milestone. (ALL CHEER)
Thanks, guys. See how many more years I can go.
(ALL CHEER)
Captions by Red Bee Media