Connor and Caelan saved a man’s life when he started to drown at a Geelong beach. 76285 Picture: JOE MASTROIANNI
By XAVIER SMERDON
TWO Wyndham Vale teenagers will have an amazing story to tell their friends when they return to school after they saved a drowning man’s life last week.
Connor Bloomcamp was swimming at Eastern Beach in Geelong with his friend Caelan last Tuesday when they heard a man calling for help.
The man was submerged in the water around 25 metres from the shore as he was trying to hold his young son afloat.
Without thinking, Connor immediately dived off the pier and into the water. He grabbed the boy and pulled the man up to the surface before three older boys and a former Surf Lifesaver arrived to help.
The fifteen-year-old then waited with the man and his friend Caelan until an ambulance arrived.
Connor, who attributed his strong swimming skills to his water polo training, said he did not think he was a hero.
“I looked around and no one was doing anything so I just dived in,” Connor said.
“I don’t think we really saved him. I’d do it again.”
Caelan, who jumped into the water just after his younger friend, said it was lucky that Connor was such a good swimmer.
“The dad was worse off than the kid, he was in a pretty bad state,” Caelan said.
“Connor was fast, he got there in like two seconds.”
The young boy’s actions come as four people died in just five days at Victorian beaches this month.
An Ambulance Victoria spokesperson confirmed that a 37-year-old man was treated at the scene.
