Chapter Twenty-five
Josh looked around but the other surfers hadn’t seen what had happened. He was the only one close enough to see the wave break over Bevan, and the only one close enough to do anything. He raised his arm towards the shore in the internationally recognised gesture of distress and hoped that Chris had seen it. He didn’t wait to see if anyone reacted.
Bevan’s surfboard was a short distance away, rising and falling on the waves. Josh paddled over to it and grabbed at the leash. It was light in his hand and when he pulled it the end came up, snapped close to where it met the ankle strap. Bevan had become separated from it and had to be in the hole somewhere, trapped by the water that had pushed him down.
On the shore the lifeguards were launching the inflatable, but it would take them a few minutes to get out to where Josh was and Bevan had been under for a long time already. Josh made an instant decision. He dived down into the sea, even though he was close to the hole and in danger of being pulled into it. He hoped that his board, floating on the surface, would help him get back up if he got pulled in. That was if his leash didn’t snap, as Bevan’s had.
He held his breath for as long as he could, searching, unable to see anything but the murky water and the bubbles swirling around. He surfaced, taking in great mouthfuls of air, hoping that Bevan had surfaced, but there was no sign of him. Anxiously, he looked towards the shore. The inflatable was having difficulty getting out. The waves were throwing it up and back towards the shore. He could hear the sound of the outboard engine revving as it was catapulted clear out of the water before slamming back down again.
Every second counted. Josh dived down again. The currents pitched him around until he didn’t know which way was up. If he wasn’t careful, he was going to be dragged under, board and all. He clawed at the water and found himself back on the surface where he took a deep breath. The inflatable was making progress at last, but it would still be a while before it reached him. A few seconds that Bevan didn’t have.
Suddenly Bevan surfaced over to Josh’s right. His eyes were open wide in terror and his mouth gaped open as he gulped in air. He looked directly at Josh, his face pleading as he clawed at the water in a movement Josh knew the life guards called ‘climbing the ladder’ - the action of desperate people in a drowning situation.
Josh made his way over to him, fighting against the water that pushed him away. A wave was building up, he could feel it behind him and he knew he had to reach Bevan before it closed over both of them or Bevan would be lost.
Seeing Josh coming towards him, Bevan struck out, but made little progress. He kept his eyes on Josh’s face, his fear plainly visible in the wide, terror-stricken eyes. The wave was close now, but Bevan was still too far away. Josh stretched out his hand towards Bevan, desperate to grab him before the wave descended on them, but aware also that they could both be dragged down.
The wave crashed over them as Josh grabbed Bevan’s wrist and then he was dragged under and pulled along towards Bevan. Josh clasped Bevan’s wrist firmly as they were tossed around. The water pushed them down together. As the wave passed over them Josh kicked frantically, struggling to get to the surface, with Bevan’s weight pulling him down. If he didn’t reach the surface soon he would have to let go of Bevan’s hand and leave him to the sea or he would drown too.
Memories of his nightmare came to him and he could feel his panic rising. He struck out and surfaced at last. He tilted his head back to clear his nose and mouth of water while he took in mouthfuls of air. He couldn’t raise himself up as Bevan’s weight held him down like an anchor. He wondered why Bevan wasn’t surfacing beside him and he tugged at his arm, but Bevan remained under the water.
The inflatable shot out in front of him with Brendan at the front. “Arms up, arms up!” he shouted as he leant over the bow of the boat.
“Not me,” Josh called back. “Bevan … he won’t come up.”
Brendan briefly glanced across to the incoming waves, grabbed the buoyancy tube and dropped into the water beside Josh.
“Where is he?” he asked.
“I’ve got him. He’s under water,” Josh said in desperation, looking beyond the inflatable to the oncoming waves. “Hurry, I can’t hold him much longer.”
Brendan dived under the water and felt his way down Josh’s arm until he reached Bevan. There were a few tugs on Josh’s arm before the weight of Bevan’s body was released and he was able to let go of his wrist. Josh pulled his surfboard towards him and climbed onto it as Bevan surfaced with the buoyancy tube now around his chest. His eyes were closed, his lips were a shade of blue and he was clearly unconsciousness. His body was limp and Josh was sure that he wasn’t breathing.
Brendan pushed Bevan towards the inflatable while still keeping a hand on the buoyancy belt. The driver reached down and held Bevan against the inflatable while Brendan pulled himself up and into the boat. With one eye on the advancing waves, he tugged at the belt under Bevan’s armpits while the driver reached for his legs to pull him up and over the pontoons. It happened so fast that Josh had no time to even offer help.
“What about you?” Brendan called to Josh once they had Bevan in the boat.
“I’m fine. Get going.”
Without another word the lifeguards turned the inflatable towards the shore and raced away from him. As they moved, Brendan leaned over the body in the bottom of the boat and Josh knew that he had started rescue breathing. Full CPR couldn’t begin until they got Bevan onto the shore.
As Josh watched them approach the shore break, Brendan gave the ‘assistance required’ signal and Josh knew that it was serious. He paddled forward and caught the next wave in.
By the time he reached the beach, Bevan had been taken out of the inflatable and placed on the sand. A crowd gathered to watch as the lifeguards began CPR.
Josh carried his board out of the shallows and approached the crowd. He could see Brendan applying mouth-to-mouth resuscitation while another lifeguard pressed down rhythmically on Bevan’s breastbone. Lifeguards were running down onto the sand with the equipment required for resuscitation. It looked hopeless. Josh turned away and sat down on the sand.
He felt a hand on his shoulder.
“Great job you did out there, mate,” Chris said, standing over him.
“But he’s been down too long,” Josh said in despair.
“Don’t give up yet,” Chris said.
The radio crackled and Chris answered it. To Josh’s ears the words sounded scratchy and distorted but Chris seemed to understand.
“Yeah, unconscious, non-breathing,” Chris said into the radio, then looked down at Josh and moved away. “Yes, requesting immediate evacuation,” he added.
Josh didn’t hear the rest of the conversation. He was trembling. He felt sick. He remembered the feeling of being under water and of not being able to breathe. The memories of his recurring nightmare came back to him and he shuddered.
A ripple of talk went through the crowd and Josh glanced over. Between people’s legs he could see that Bevan had been turned onto his side and when they rolled him back he was coughing. He couldn’t believe it. It didn’t seem possible that Bevan could be breathing again after so long. Chris was again talking into the radio as he walked back towards Josh.
“What’s the ETA on the chopper?” he said into the radio.
The radio crackled an answer. Chris confirmed it and then squatted down beside Josh. “See, I told you,” he said.
“Is he going to be okay?” Josh asked.
“The helicopter will pick him up and take him to hospital. In the meantime, I’ve got First Response and an ambulance on its way. Near-drownings can stop breathing after being resuscitated so we’ll have to keep an eye on him.” Chris looked over to where Bevan lay, now covered with a thermal blanket, before he continued. “This is the second serious incident in two days that you’ve been involved in, Josh. If it happens again, I’ll have to wrap ‘danger’ tape around you and ban you from the
beach.”
“If you’re trying to cheer me up, you’re not succeeding,” Josh said.
“Then I’ll give you something to do. Come on, help me clear the beach so that the helicopter can land.”