Ah, the beach.
The perfect place to relax...
..contemplate life...
..and cool off.
But not today.
(LOUD CRYING)
We've got easterly winds blowing through with an easterly swell.
And that means we're going to get bluebottles
everywhere along Bondi Beach.
Could be the worst day of a lifeguard's life.
(LOUD CRYING)
These marine stingers aren't fatal, but they sure feel like it.
When you get stung by a bluebottle for the first time,
it can be extremely painful.
It might be like putting your hand on a hot plate.
Little slits on your body.
Getting slashed. Yeah, with, like, glass.
A sharp glass. Yeah.
(LOUD CRYING)
Over the years, lifeguards have tried everything
to treat bluebottle stings.
Ice, hot water, cold water.
The only thing that really works is time.
Although Harries has had success with a little home remedy.
I've used this for many years and it does an amazing job.
Abracadabra...
Yeah, ready to go.
We'll put this spray on, right?
No, no this, it should make it even better.
Do you feel that? It'll feel so much better.
We have a magic potion to treat these bluebottles.
A magician is going to treat you. And it's Merlin.
But it's Harries today.
I'll do a second. Hold on.
Abracadabra! Yeah, perfect.
Here we go.
OK. That's gonna take the pain off by at least 50%.
It's been scientifically proven,
and it happens within seconds, too.
It's a magic potion. Abracadabra!
The magic potion works on all ages.
Ready?
You can use it on everybody.
Children all the way through to adults.
A bit of magic spray here.
You got some on here.
Thank you.
Round the back. More than a pleasure.
That should help. How long is this gonna, like...?
About 10 minutes. 10 to 15. 10 to 15 minutes.
For the first time, Harries is willing
to break the magician's code.
I don't normally give my potions away or reveal anything,
but I have to be quite honest,
it was water that I filled the bottle with.
(LOUD CRYING)
When you have a placebo effect,
it's about getting into their mind and tripping that mine
and saying to them it's going to reduce it by 50%.
And then most people go, "I reckon I could live with this."
It also requires a very specific follow-up treatment.
I always suggest after this - an ice cream.
That's what I said!
Thank you. Thanks very much.
Singapore tourist Rajeev has an even better idea.
All I need is a couple of beers. You need a couple of beers?
Two beers and I'm done with this. (LAUGHS)
It's almost knock-off time.
Harries and Noah are on pack-up duty.
Whilst driving down the beach with the trailer on,
we noticed five people out in the rip.
There's a child among them wearing inflatable water wings,
a sign he probably can't swim.
Oh, my gosh!
Your senses just go crazy when you're in a situation
of multiple people drowning around you.
North, can you back up, please?
Yeah, we're on our way.
(HORN BEEPS)
I could just see this kid in floaties out there,
and he had a whole heap of other people with him in distress,
and I knew there was a massive urgency
for us to get out there.
Noah has to make a quick decision.
The guy further out, he's really not in a good state.
He was just going straight out the back.
You need to go into who needs help the most.
The kid, he was kind of getting helped out by two other people.
They were all in a bit of trouble,
but knowing that Harries was behind me,
he was alright for the time being.
With the guy further out, he was struggling.
He'd obviously had no real idea what he was doing
and the dangerous situation that he was in.
Harries makes a beeline for the boy...
Put the kid on, put the kid on, put the kid on.
..who's being held up by two other swimmers,
also battling to stay afloat.
They're real heroes, they've gone out to try and help this little boy,
and they've got themselves in strife as well.
But my first priority is to save that little boy.
He's got floats on.
There's a big chance that he can't swim at all.
Harries has the boy on his board
while Noah floats his patient to a sandbank.
Then, out of nowhere, a freak wave.
The wave's hit me.
Then the board turns upside down
and one of the floats flew off.
Grab him! Grab him!
Reaching for this child...
Quick, quick, quick! Grab him! Grab him!
Get him! Get him!
In the middle of a mass rescue...
..a freak wave hits.
Harries' patient, a young boy, is flung off the rescue board.
Quick, quick, quick. And he's lost his floatie.
I'm reaching for this child.
But I can't grab him and I can't control the waves.
And that is just the worst feeling ever,
that you are helpless.
Grab him! Grab him! I've got to grab the kid.
I've got to grab the board,
and it's like everyone's just trying to reach out for this kid.
Harries hauls the boy back onto the board.
He's finally safe.
But the man Noah rescued is in trouble again,
the same way, sweeping him off the safety of a sand bank
and back into the rip.
It's all kicking off again.
It's like we've just hit the restart button
and we're back to square one.
Jackson's just gone out now as well.
In the nick of time, backup arrives.
They've sort of been sitting on the side of that bank
and so much water just pulled them straight off there.
Out of nowhere, Jackson shows up,
the patient's now holding on to Jackson's board.
Get on the board!
He's too tired to climb on to himself.
Get on the board. You can't swim.
Jumped off my board to try and lift up the guy's legs
on to Jackson's board, but he's got no strength.
He's buggered. His legs are also slippery as hell.
It's like he's just jumped into a pool of baby oil beforehand.
At the same time, Harries paddles the boy to shore.
You don't know what those waves are going to do
and you can come off at any time.
Jump off. Jump.
I was just exhausted.
But the two swimmers who kept him afloat for so long
are still battling to make it in.
These two heroes that have tried their best to save
this young boy's life are still stuck out in the water,
so I had to go out and bring them in also.
You know, it reminds me of, like, a boxing match.
You've got that last round,
and literally your arms are so tired,
you can barely hold them up.
Lucky you guys are there to hold him up.
I know you guys were in trouble, too, but thanks, boys.
You alright?
Please don't swim over here today.
Wow!
That was a good one.
It is really, really dangerous.
You see what just happened?
Don't see many of those too often, eh?
The family is on holiday from China.
Their first time at Bondi - unforgettable.
Far out.
When you've got kids,
and I seen him out there.
And I'm going as flat out...
I'm going as hard as I can to save his life.
You know, like, I'm looking at him and I was looking at my own son.
It's quite hard.
Alright. Have a good afternoon. Have a good afternoon, sir.
You too, man.
I've actually got bluebottle on my face
from the kid from rescuing him. Kids are just VIPs.
You got to do everything you can to save a child.
There are 20,000 beachgoers on the sand today...
..one lies in agony.
Part time lifeguard Tom investigates.
Hey, guys.
What's your name?
What's that?
How old are you?
Simon is from Sardinia.
He had injured himself in the water.
He'd hit his left arm on his surfboard.
Pretty significant wipe-out.
No, no, no, no, no...
He's in real pain.
Tom suspects a serious fracture.
We want to wire an ambulance as soon as possible.
Paramedics won't arrive for at least an hour.
In the meantime, Tom eases Simon's pain.
So, Simon, what I want you to do is put this in your mouth.
The green whistle is an analgesia.
It's fast-acting.
Just breathe in and out. Don't take it out.
Nice, long, slow, deep breaths.
Can you feel what I'm doing down here?
Can you feel my fingers?
In my other life, I work as a chiropractor,
and that has a lot of benefits working down here at the beach.
Open your hand up.
You have to assess whether he actually has a spinal injury.
He could feel everything I was doing,
so that's a good thing.
Hold this, hold this.
Tom needs to learn vital information.
But there's only one fact Simon will divulge.
You are a tough mother... Yeah.
I can't say that word, but that's exactly what you are.
So some of the effects of the green whistle
is that people generally go to a really happy place.
They can act in a way that
they probably haven't acted before.
You look tough.
You sound tough.
As soon as that pain level goes down
from like a 10 to a one or a two, he instantly became Mr Tough Guy.
I just need you to be tough for a little bit longer.
My wife to know that I'm (BLEEP). Where is she?
Somewhere over there.
What's her name?
Simon was able to let me know,
once he stopped using all his explicit language,
that he actually had his wife down on the beach with him,
so I needed to locate her quickly.
That's easier said than done.
All Tom knows is he's looking for a woman in a pink bikini.
Needle, meet haystack.
Anyone whose name is Nonno.
Nonno?
Pink bikini.
Nonno? Are you down here?
Tom has no luck in the buggy, so he sets out on foot.
Excuse me. Hi.
What's your...? Is your name Nonno?
Yeah. And will you come with me?
That's alright. You couldn't hear me
because you had your headphones in.
Tom's detective skills pay off.
Looks like a broken arm there.
Simon. Nonno's here.
OK, OK, OK, OK.
He doesn't usually talk like that? You sure?
He's high as a kite. He's in a happy place.
Simon, how old are you again? 57?
50. Alright. No, take it easy.
You should be.
Well, 50 is the new 40.
At this stage, Simon, I think, was becoming very delusional.
You know, we're faced with serious situations all the time,
but we handle it with a bit of humour.
Simon has been sucking on the green whistle for 20 minutes.
The effects will soon wear off.
Only paramedics can provide stronger pain relief,
but they are still on their way.
Did they give any indication on how long they'll be?
No. Nothing to be panicked about at all.
19 years as a professional lifeguard.
I've never been asked, "Should I be panicky?
"Do I panic or do I stay calm?"
I'll go for the latter.
But we've been waiting on the beach for a significant amount of time,
and so then the pain starts coming back
and then the situation gets heightened again.
So I actually had to administer a second green pen.
Simon...
Simon, just open your eyes for me.
Open your eyes.
As the second green whistle kicks in,
Simon suddenly goes quiet.
Simon, open your eyes.
He lost consciousness.
He goes from a major arm injury
to something where he may stop breathing,
and then it gets serious quickly.
Simon, open your eyes.
I'm starting to get scared.
in a vicious wipe-out.
After sucking on a second pain-killing green whistle,
Simon becomes unresponsive.
Simon, open your eyes.
I'm starting to get scared.
No, don't get scared.
One minute he's laughing,
the next minute he's non-responsive
to verbal communication. It's serious.
Suddenly, Simon wakes up.
(ALL TALK AT ONCE)
Keep breathing.
No, no, no, no, no...
Stay still. Stay still.
I'll give you a little bit of oxygen, OK?
It's a really tricky situation being with a patient
for a long period of time.
Things change quickly.
I might get another lifeguard down here
since things are starting to deteriorate.
The wind has picked up.
Simon is not only in serious pain... (GROANS)
..now he's at risk of hypothermia.
Simon's been on the sand for at least 45 minutes.
And with that wind, he gets cold quickly.
We have to insulate his body heat.
Get the space blanket on him quickly.
Paramedics arrive to assess Simon's injuries.
Hi.
It was so good to see that paramedic come down.
It was getting very serious.
The paramedics, they were able to stabilise Simon's left arm.
They applied a fast-acting cast, a brace,
but also slowed his breathing down
so he didn't continually slip into shock.
And we were able to transport him from the beach to the ambulance.
That was smooth.
It was surprising that he could walk.
It caught me off guard,
considering the amount of pain he was in
and the fact that he'd just lost consciousness 10 minutes prior.
Simon was treated for a dislocated elbow.
He's since made a full recovery.
Simon, I hope you're surfing again.
Hopefully not down at Bondi
and I hope you continue to be a tough mother...
Between all the danger and drama,
occasionally, Bondi's lifeguards do get a quiet day.
A day when the clouds roll in and the beachgoers don't.
It was a rare, overcast, rainy summer's day.
It was quite cold.
I think I was wearing tracksuit pants and a hoodie,
so when I saw a few heads in the southern corner,
I wasn't too eager to go in for a rescue.
Just these swimmers out here, guys, just come back in for us.
Faddy's hopes of staying warm and dry are fading fast.
Yeah, I'm out there.
Two of the boys are making it back under their own steam,
leaving Faddy with one patient to pick up.
So I've gone out to this young lad who was stuck in a rip.
He had a bit of energy about him.
Got him on the board and I was taking him back in
and, yeah, he was a character.
After the rescue,
local lad Daniel has some hard-earned wisdom to share.
Don't swim in the South Bondi rip.
It's no good.
I didn't think that it was going to be this strong,
but I'm a pretty small man.
Small man in a big world.
For the Bondi Rescue film crew,
there's something familiar about Daniel.
I think I met you last year. Yeah.
I had no idea he was a Bondi Rescue frequent flyer.
You're the dude who busted his shoulder.
I caved in my shoulder.
So he shared his experience of his last Bondi rescue encounter...
Argh! Argh! My arm!
..where he dislocated his shoulder
and had a suck of the green whistle.
Nice deep breaths. In through your mouth, out through your nose.
Yeah, it definitely affected him in a strange way.
Love you, bro.
No worries.
I love you.
I love you, bro.
(LAUGHS) Yeah. Sweet.
Thank you. I love you.
Something tells me it's not the last we'll see of Daniel.
Oh, well, you guys take it easy.
Yeah. You too, brother.
Nice to see you.
Good to see you again, bro. Good to see you well, mate.
It's nice to see you this season, Daniel.
We'll see you next season.
A century ago, lifeguards used a reel and a line to save lives.
Now it's rescue boards and jet skis.
Chase and Mitch are about to trial a technology
that could be the next big thing.
Guys, the Seabob Rescue is an amazing tool to save lives.
It's capable of 20km an hour.
Guys, you can save one person at a time,
but we also have a safety device
which allows you to tow up to eight people out of a rip.
And you don't have to get too close where they drown you,
because they're always going to try to jump on top.
When you get to a patient that's panicked
in their final flight moment,
they'll pull you under water if that's their only option.
So to have a rope where you could keep a safe distance
is really safe for us as lifeguards.
Alright, let's see.
You feel like you're riding a bull almost.
It's big and heavy.
And to hold your whole body weight forward
as you're propelling 20kmh through the water, it's quite hard.
I was just surprised about how far I was travelling under water.
Like, you can hold your breath for 20 seconds
and you go down and 20 seconds later,
at 20km an hour, you're almost halfway
at the other side of the beach.
(HE SINGS)
I had to test it in the waves,
like, I was on it and doing rolls and turns.
A bit of fun.
Yeah, a few of the local guys were out there,
and a few questions getting asked
and a few tows getting put back out.
As lifesaving equipment, does the Seabob get the thumbs up?
Oh, definitely. Yeah.
It could be really useful for our worst jobs,
which is looking for people underwater.
Very efficient.
You can go 10 times the speed as what you can swim,
and you don't have to hold your breath for as long.
Or just have it on the shoreline
and be able to get out the back or go rescue someone far away
instead of having to launch a whole jet ski.
If nothing else, it would make a great gift
for the lifeguard who has everything.
Look, the garage is already full at home.
I've got a jet ski and a boat in there now,
and I'm sure a Seabob
would just find its way in eventually
when it comes to my birthday.