Unconscious man dragged from surf

07.09.2010

A 20-YEAR-OLD man has been dragged unconscious from the surf after having an epileptic fit at Cotton Tree Beach on the Sunshine Coast.

Surf instructor Iann Cowley found the surfer floating face down about midday.

Surfers alerted lifeguards and dragged the man to the surf, while his worried girlfriend and an American friend watched on.

''I just grabbed him and kept his head stable,'' Mr Cowley said.

Lifeguards reached the surfer and brought him to shore on a board.

Maroochydore lifeguard Steven Short said the surfer had taken in a lot of water.

Lifeguards performed CPR on the beach until emergency services arrived.

It took paramedics about 20 minutes to stabilise the surfer, before they took him to hospital.