Bondi Blues | Bondi Rescue

Part 1

Growing up in Byron Bay was an amazing experience. Living a block away from the beach in the town home to the most easterly point in Australia made me a definite water kid. I was a nipper at Byron from the age of five, and as soon as I got my first surfboard at the age of nine, I was out in the waves with my older brother, Liam.

Liam and I had joined the Byron Bay Surf Life Saving Club when we had met the minimum age requirement of 16, and it was usually a pretty relaxed job. Our little town was full of natives and it was a very small, tightly-knit community; everyone knew each other and it was such a friendly town.

After my father was hired by a huge law firm in Sydney, we split our time between Byron and Sydney. The drive down to see my dad was a grueling eight hours on the Pacific Highway, but being in Sydney was always an adventure. My dad lived in North Bondi, a few blocks off of the beach, and when my mum, Liam and I went to visit, we always brought our boards. Bondi had waves like no other beach we'd ever been to, and we loved the challenge it gave us as surfers.

When I was 17, I graduated from Byron Bay High School and joined my brother up in the Gold Coast in Queensland, where we both attended Bond University. He was following in my father's footsteps and becoming a lawyer, and he was almost finished his degree when I had started classes for my degree in Exercise and Sport Science. 

At Bond, I joined the Elite Sport Program and was a diver for the both Bond and the Australian National Team. I competed in the Commonwealth Games, the Pan Pacific Championships, and the World Championships. I graduated from Bond in two years and continued my diving career.

Liam moved down to Sydney and joined a law firm there, and at the same time, my father decided to move back up to Byron with my mum and was hired by a local law firm, where he was the head of the firm. Liam ended up taking the house from my dad, and when I finished school, I moved down to Bondi and lived with him, continuing my elite diving career training in Sydney.

*

One day, as I was coming home from training, I decided to stop at Bondi with one of my friends, Alyssa. As we walked on the beach, I said, "Man, I wish I brought my board." Alyssa asked, "You used to surf?" I laughed and answered, "Used to? I still do. It's my therapy." As we passed the lifeguard tower, Alyssa inquired, "Didn't you say you were a member of the Surf Life Saving Club back home in Byron?" I replied, "Yeah, why?" She answered with another question, "Have you ever thought of becoming a lifeguard here at Bondi?"

After that conversation, I called my diving coach and asked if it was okay. It took a little convincing, but since he knew that I needed a real, professional job that wasn't working at a little café in Bondi, he said yes. Alyssa and I headed down to the beach that weekend, and I took my surfboard with me to catch some waves.

As I was coming out of a wave, I saw someone get swept under. It must have been a six foot swell, and I looked back to try and see if they were okay. I rode out the wave and looked behind me, and the head I was looking for was struggling to stay afloat. Instinctively, I put my shins on my board, sat up, and began paddling out to the struggling swimmer as fast as I could. Just as the swimmer was going under, I grabbed his hand and pulled him on to my board, laying face down. 

A few moments later, a lifeguard in approached me and remarked, "You got out here pretty fast for a surfer." As I helped him get the man onto his blue board, I replied, "I used to be part of the Surf Life Saving Club in Byron Bay." The lifeguard told me, "Follow me to shore?" I nodded and followed the lifeguard, who had introduced himself as Deano, to the shore. I saw Alyssa a few metres away and dropped off my board where our stuff was, and I headed back to help Deano and another lifeguard who had just arrived on the scene.

"I reckon he took in a lot of water, when I got to him he was just starting to go under." As they asked me what I saw, I helped them turn the man on his side as he coughed up water. The second lifeguard, who was called Bisho, said that an ambulance was on it's way. As we stabilized the man and the paramedics arrived, I let them take over and began to walk back to my spot with Alyssa.

About fifteen minutes later, I saw Deano walking directly for me. Alyssa said, "I think that may as well have been your job application." I laughed as Deano approached me and said, "Without you, that guy wouldn't have made it. Thanks for the help... I didn't catch your name?" I smiled and replied, "Charlotte Thompson, but my friends call me Charlie." Deano smiled and said, "Well, Charlie, the whole of the Lifeguard Tower wants to hear what you have to say about that rescue... Wanna come meet the boys?" I looked back at Alyssa, and she said, "Go on, Char!"

I followed Deano up to the Tower and entered the door into the small space that kept all of Bondi safe. I saw Bisho from earlier, and a few other guys who were on patrol. "Well, if it isn't the hero of the day!" A taller, good looking lifeguard said as he approached me with a huge smile. "I'm Harries. I've got to say, I don't think I've ever seen a surfer that calm while helping someone." I laughed and replied, "I used to be a Surf Life Saver when I was growing up in Byron." Deano introduced me and said, "This is Charlie Thompson-"

Before he could say anything else, another lifeguard with a slightly higher, raspy voice said, "I recognize that name..." I saw the lightbulb go off as he exclaimed, "You're a pro diver, aren't you?" I laughed and replied, "I guess you could say that." The guy, who I later learned was called Reidy, teased me and said, "I guess? Didn't you win gold for Women's 10 Metre in the Pan Pacific Championships?" I sheepishly replied, "Yep..."

After talking for a bit, I said, "Well Deano, you actually gave me an excuse to come up here to ask about something that I'd wanted to... I wanted to ask about the process to becoming a lifeguard here at Bondi?" I saw Deano's eyes light up. I had only known him for about an hour, but I could tell he was genuine. Before anyone could say anything, I heard an unfamiliar voice say, "Who's this?"

Harries answered, "Hoppo, this is Charlie Thompson, the pro diver who won the gold in the Pan Pac's last year." Hoppo shook my hand and said, "It's great to meet you, Charlie." Reidy added, "Hoppo, you should have seen what she did out there. She was surfing on a wave, saw a guy get sucked under the wave, and paddled back to get him and got him on her board." Hoppo jokingly asked, "Wanna be a lifeguard?"

I replied, "Actually, yeah. I do."