Woman drowns off 'dangerous beach'

30.04.2010

THEY came looking for some
surf and sun just three days
ago.
In an instant, the adventure
was over and now a
group from the United Kingdom
will return home without
their friend, a 66-year-old
woman who drowned at Happy
Valley yesterday.
The woman was paddling
on a bodyboard in an unpatrolled
section of beach between
Bulcock and Kings
Beach.
The area is the ocean
mouth to the Pumicestone
Passage.
She struck "difficulties"
about lpm, according to Sunshine
Coast council lifeguards.
The woman was 800
metres away from the nearest
help.
Coast ironman Rhys Drury
was one of four lifeguards
who responded.
Mr Drury said Happy Valley
was "an extremely
dangerous area".
"It's not patrolled and it's
an open river mouth area
where the conditions were
extremely calm today," he
said.
"Obviously her friends
were quite distressed and
pretty traumatised by it all."
The Coolangatta Gold winner
said he was at a loss to
know how to get the message
through to international visitors
that Australian beaches
could be dangerous.
"It is a hard job in a situation
like this. there are a lot
of people doing the right
thing," he said.
"The main message to try
and get across is no flags-no
swim - it's a simple message."
Council lifeguard manager
Scott Braby said it was not
known what exactly happened
to the woman, but admitted
the beach, between
Kings and Bulcock beaches,
had strong tidal currents.
Mr Braby said early reports
suggested the woman
was in the water with a
friend at the time of the incident.
He said two other friends
alerted lifeguards.
"Lifeguards from Kings
Beach headed out on a jetski
and located the unconscious
woman out near Happy Valley,"
Mr Braby said.
The woman
was several
hundred
metres from
shore when
she was
found.
"With the
assistance of
another lifeguard on a jetski,
the woman was brought
on to the beach."
The English tourist had
had a heart attack by the
time paramedics arrived,
according to the Department
of Community Safety.
Mr Braby said lifeguards
and paramedics performed
CPR and emergency rescucitation
with a defibrillator.
He said the woman was
not believed to have regained
consciousness.
"It isn't
known at
this stage
whether the
woman suffers
from any
medical condition,"
Mr
Braby said.
"There was an outgoing
tide, but there were reasonably
calm conditions."
Mr Braby said it was unknown
where the woman
and her friend entered the
water.
However, he said there
were warning signs.
"It can be very dangerous
for inexperienced
swimmers such as the
young or elderly," he said.
A police spokeswoman
said a report would be prepared
for the coroner.