As Falson tried to drag the unconscious woman onto his rescue board, signalling frantically towards the tower, it got worse. Only minutes had passed, but as more lifeguards paddled out to help, Falson knew he was on his own with the unconscious woman. Back on the beach, a fresh struggle begins as the lifeguards frantically start CPR on the two unconscious swimmers. Working on the unconscious man, Oliver willed him to respond. "We'd been doing CPR for I reckon 20 to 25 minutes and it didn't seem like it was getting better," Falson remembers.

Source: New Zealand Herald April 23, 2017 00:56 UTC