It was Monday, 9th December at 5.30pm and Finn Boyer, Molly Colgan, and Coby Whitehead had just arrived at North Mullaloo Beach for training. Finn, Molly and Coby had only completed their Surf Rescue Certificates the previous season. The trio were carrying their boards and chatting amongst themselves as they came down the entrance dune.

Suddenly, three girls frantically rushed up to them shouting there were people in trouble out in the water, pointing to where the swimmers were in terrifying distress in the ocean, dragged out beyond the waves in a dangerous rip current.

“We acted on instinct,” Molly recounts. “We knew we had to get out there fast to save the people who were drowning.” Without hesitation, they raced down to the water, with all three entering the water together, paddling hard and heading for the break.

20-year-old Mitch Lee, their club coach, was on the beach, and alerted by the yells, had also grabbed his board and raced out to the water first heading for the male swimmer who was further out beyond the break. They paddled hard in the rough conditions, the young teenagers braving huge sets of waves that were coming through.

Molly was not on her usual board and the swell was so intense, waves kept knocking her off her unwaxed board. Finn got over the break about 50 meters from the water’s edge and spotted the female, about 20 metres past the break and 30 metres north of the male swimmer Mitch was heading out to.

“She wasn’t calling for help,” Finn recalled, and upon reaching her saw she was lying face down in the water. It was then that she lifted her head, as if she sensed him there, his presence a beacon of hope for the exhausted woman who was terrifyingly close to tragedy. She desperately grabbed lifeline in the midst of one of the most horrific moments in her life.

At this point, Molly reached the pair. “She seemed to be in pure shock and physically exhausted,” Molly recalls of the female’s condition.

“She was clinging onto Finn’s board but would not move. However, I was eventually able to gain her trust and coaxed her to get on my board with me.” Coby had also reached the group, and with the female now lying on Molly’s board with Molly lying behind her, the teens stayed out there for a minute providing support for the female and each other as they drifted out of the rip and started the journey to bring the female home to shore.

 During this time, Mitch had reached the distressed male and recalls him repeating in panic, ‘you have to save my girlfriend’. Knowing he would never be able to paddle the distance between the pair in time with another person on his board, Mitch looked over and saw the teens had the female on a board. He provided comfort to the panicked male, reassuring him, ‘don’t worry, the kids have her.’

But even then, the danger was not over. The ocean tossed up huge waves, and as Finn and Coby escorted Molly and the female towards the shore, the conditions and shore break made it difficult to return. In the end, they skilfully manoeuvred through the waves and returned to the beach safely. Once Molly and the female patient reached knee-deep water, Coby’s father Sean Whitehead, also a member of Quinns Mindarie SLSC, assisted the female the rest of the way out of the water. Her relieved boyfriend met them, and Sean assisted the pair with post-rescue care.

“Although they’re only young, I was extremely confident in their ability,” he said. ”I was immensely proud of how Mitch and these three youth members conducted themselves and brought everybody back safely to the beach.

“I’ve watched these three youth members progress from Nippers to becoming skilled volunteer surf lifesavers. I’m extremely proud of each of them and all the youth involved in Surf Life Saving,” Sean said. Mitch, also praised the young teens, saying proudly, “It’s pretty incredible that they turn up for training and they were thrown into a dangerous rescue. It’s cool they didn’t hesitate to jump in and get involved.”

Following the rescue, the female patient’s grandmother, Helen, reached out to Quinns Mindarie SLSC to express how grateful she was to the teens for saving the life of her precious granddaughter.

“My granddaughter described how just prior to being rescued she knew she had no energy left and was floating with her last bit of energy and believed she was imminently going to die. She recalled her boyfriend yelling out and said his panic made her even more aware of the dire situation they were in."

So, save their lives they definitely did. My heartfelt thanks and gratitude to all three rescuers and for the training provided to these young folk. We all know without a doubt they would have drowned, if not for the circumstances that led to their rescue,” Helen wrote gratefully.

The teens said they felt proud of what they had done and the response from the

community over the rescue. “At the time of the rescue everything happened so fast,” Molly said.

“It was a team effort, and I am so grateful we were there to help this couple. The email from the female patient’s grandmother really showed us what an impact we have had on saving lives. Being a volunteer surf lifesaver is important to me because we get to give back to the community.”

Finn also reflected on his thoughts during and after the rescue. He said at the time of the rescue, his instincts kicked in andhe was focused on reaching the drowning female as quickly as possible. Afterwards, he told his mother he felt happy and proud that the trio had saved the life of a person in desperate need of help. His mother Julie, who was on the beach at the time of the rescue, recalls watching and thinking ‘they’re saving someone’ and feeling worried because she could not see the swimmers in trouble from the beach and didn’t know what her son would find.

“I’m so incredibly proud of my son. He didn’t hesitate; he just ran! It was the best entry and paddling Finn’s ever done! I couldn’t wait to hug him then tell his dad. We’re still proud of him and how he handled everything,” she said.