A MEMORABLE RESCUE

Over the years, surf life-saver Duke Gillies has made many rescues but he still remembers the 
first one as though it happened yesterday.

Mr Gillies was sitting on St Clair Beach with his mate Hugh Devlin when they noticed a 
woman in the surf.

"She was a big woman and the water was up to her shoulders. Every time a wave came along, 
she'd jump into the air with her hands up," he recalls.

Unfortunately, the woman did not realise that a current was carrying her along the beach and 
away from the shore. The pair soon noticed that she was disappearing under the water and 
every time she jumped up her arms were waving frantically in all directions. She was 
obviously in trouble.

Mr Gillies recalls that his friend went to the rescue: "Hugh was better at towing so I told him 
that he'd better go. So off he set but I could see that she was being pushed out to sea faster 
than he could swim. I could swim faster so I set off too.

"I managed to get out to her and as a big wave came over I reached out to grab her. But I 
must have grabbed the strap on her swimsuit because when the wave passed there was this 
large lady with nothing on above the waist!"

Ninety-one year old Mr Gillies says fortunately, his friend reached them at that stage and 
took over the rescue while he swam back to shore to look for a towel to cover the hapless 
woman.

Despite her embarrassment, the woman couldn't thank the pair enough. Little did she realise 
that one of her rescuers would still remember her clearly many decades later.


This item from the Otago Age Concern Publication  Memories are Made of This
is used with permission

Page 1