When Olivia Kayes and fellow lifeguards reached the man, he was moments from death. "Just his hair was above the water … another couple of seconds he would've been goners," Kayes said. Olivia Kayes comes from a family of surf lifesavers, and first pulled on the yellow jersey aged 15. Yesterday, Surf Life Saving Northern Region - whose territory ranges from Raglan to Ahipara on the west coast of the upper North Island, and then south to Mairangi Bay in Auckland - began its official summer beach patrols. The message from Olivia Kayes, third from left, and her fellow surf lifesavers as beach patrols begin for summer is to "please stay safe".

Source: New Zealand Herald October 22, 2022 23:05 UTC