A young group of friends who went to Lake Hume for an afternoon swim ended their day by helping to rescue a man from the water.
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Army Cadets Sam Walsh, 18, Tahlia Blom, 16, Debbi Barnes, 17, and their friend Callum Gibson, 20, were swimming at Ebden on Wednesday when they heard a group men yelling out.
Mr Walsh said at first he thought the men were joking, but soon realised the swimmer was in trouble.
“His friends were just standing on the bank looking, so we didn’t know if they were serious,” he said.
“Callum and I swam out to help drag the guy in while the girls called for help.
"When it started happening it felt like our training was kicking in.
“There was a situation and our first job was to control it.
“Afterwards I couldn't believe that it actually happened.”
It is believed the man had been trying to swim to an island when he began to have trouble breathing after 5.30pm.
Mr Walsh said the swimmer lost consciousness in the water, but became responsive again once they reached the shore.
At this point Miss Blom was on the phone to paramedics trying to pinpoint their location.
She said passed the phone to Mr Walsh then began putting her six-years of first-aid experience into action.
“I was telling everyone to stay calm, to talk to him and to put him on his side in recovery position,” Miss Blom said.
“I continued to make sure he was still breathing and asked him questions about whether he had been drinking, what happened, if he hit his head or if he felt pain anywhere.
“He told me he had asthma and was trying to swim to the island but got too puffed.
“It feels really good that we were able to help him.”
Miss Barnes ran to her car and met the ambulance at the Boathaven Holiday Park.
She showed the paramedics to the man’s location near the Ebden boat ramp.
From there the paramedics took over.
Miss Blom said it was a real group effort to make sure the man was OK.
“Communication is so important in those situations,” she said.
“Something just clicks and you think ‘alright this is what we need to do’.
“Just thinking he could be in serious danger, we knew what we had to do so we just tried our best.
“There wasn’t a second thought to it.”
Miss Barnes said she believed the man who they rescued was named Luke, however the group didn’t know anything else about him.
Miss Blom's mother, Rebecca, said the group should be proud of what they've done.
