Friday JohnKu – AKA – TGIF – Fri-Yay/Goodnews

~ John W. Howell
Braith, Max, George, Harrison, Alex, and Zach rescued this family and two other girls from a flash rip tide – Supplied by Kiama SLSC.

Today’s good news story comes from the Good News Network. Here it is in its entirety.

Seven Swimmers Owe Their Lives to Australian Teens on Boogie Boards–2 Rescues in One Week

By Andy Corbley

 

Unrelated teenage surfers rescued swimmers from drowning off the south coast of Australia on two separate occasions last week, proving that while the stereotype of young surfers is one of laxness, it isn’t all a bad thing.

It was November 18th when six friends aged between 12 and 15 were boogie boarding on Kiama Beach in the Australian state of New South Wales. Just 20 minutes after rescue personnel finished their shift and went home for the day, they became aware via screaming that 6 people had been swept hundreds of meters out to sea in a rip current.

A mom with her three young daughters and two young women were all caught in the violent water, leaving buddies Max Laird, Braith Davidson, George Griffin, Harrison Smee, Alex Norris, and Zach Marsden as the only entity on the beach able to affect a rescue.

Luckily, these strapping young lads are all members of the Kiama Surf Life Saving Club, and Harrison, the oldest of the crew at 15, led them back to dry land on their boards to save some lives.

George described the event as “shocking” but told ABC News Australia that “we just had to do what we could.”

“I got to an 8, 9-year-old kid called Matt, and by the time I got to him, he was completely underwater, just his hand above the surface of the water, so I was pretty worried,” said George.

Harrison, George, and their comrades rescued all 6 girls, just nights after another group of surfers on another beach rescued another person—this time a distressed teenage boy swimming alone after safety patrol hours.

Rescue on Jones Beach – supplied to ABC by Lucas Mak

This rescue, which took place on Jones Beach about 2 miles north of Kiama Beach, was carried out by high schoolers Lucas Mak, George Kalajzich, and Dax Cairncross, who used a surfboard to reach the drowning fellow who had also been caught in a “rip” as they call it Down Under.

Lucas and his friends – supplied to ABC by Lucas Mak

“We met the guy out in the rip and started paddling back to the shore slowly. He couldn’t really walk, so his mates picked him up,” Lucas said.

A spokesman for the Surf Life Saving Club said that the rescues were a testament to the awareness, bravery, and focus that can be shown even by young people when given the proper training, as the youngest rescuer was 12 years old.

The good news here is that the stereotyped behavior of teens is just that, a stereotype. Today’s JohnKu talks about stereotypes. I hope you have a great weekend.

Generalizations by John W. Howell ©2023

You have heard about,

Those people who you don’t like . . .

Do amazing things.

 

67 thoughts on “Friday JohnKu – AKA – TGIF – Fri-Yay/Goodnews”

  4. It’s always interesting to see who steps up when needed. These kids answered the call. Unlike the news folks, I don’t think it’s shocking. I think most young people are better that we give them credit for being. I am optimistic about our future and these kids make me more confident in that feeling.

    Liked by 1 person

  5. It is definitely a mistake to lump all teenagers into the same group. As this wonderful story attests.
    Perfect JohnKu for this Friday after Thanksgiving.
    Have a wonderful day!

    Liked by 1 person

  8. Bravo to each of these heroes! It restores your faith in humanity in general, and particularly for our young folks, when you read something like this. Thank you for sharing, John. Just looking at those three young men makes me happy, both for the folks they saved, and for them. May they continue to shine throughout their lives!

    Liked by 1 person

        2. I should have explained. What I mean is that I’m amazed people don’t find out about these sorts of things before swimming in the ocean. We have deaths here too and it is so avoidable if people just investigated. It’s sad 😞

          Liked by 1 person

  11. This is the kind of things the news should be reporting. All I see are people glueing themselves to streets and such. Maybe the police should just leave them where they glued themselves for a few days. Out here we had a similar story. This one involved a hiker, a cliff, and a group of Boy Scouts on a river canoeing adventure.

    Liked by 1 person

  14. Riptides can be scary. One of the first things we learned about when I swam in the ocean was how to survive one. My brother rescued his daughter from one, but wrecked his shoulder pulling her in. Kudos to the rescuers, and yes, we sorely underestimate the ability of teens to do good things. We shouldn’t be surprised but they deserve a lot of praise.

    Liked by 1 person

  16. This is so amazing, quite a feat for these young folks. We have some wonderful young people in our world. Maybe there’s hope.

    Like

  24. A wonderful good news day here on your blog, John.
    This is a fab post to follow up Twiggy’s happy Thanksgiving wishes.
    I have to think what a great job these kids parents and community are doing raising these future adults.
    Kudos to all, and to your John Ku(dos)!

    🛟🏄‍♀️ 🛟🏄‍♂️ 🛟🏄‍♀️ 🛟🏄‍♂️

    Liked by 1 person

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