BY the time she got to him, he was already underwater.
It was Christmas Day in 2022 and Lisa Whitbourn had gone for an evening paddle at Merewether Beach with her four daughters in tow.
The lifeguards had already left for the day and she could see a group of four boys mucking around in deeper water.
Just 10 seconds later, two of them had drifted, one pulled out a lot further than the other by a strong rip.
"When I got to him under the water, and he was under the water, I'll never forget his face," Ms Whitbourn said.
"The way that he was just so horrified as to what was happening, and he just had no control over the situation because he was so scared, he was scared for his life."
Ms Whitbourn, a theatre nurse at Wollongong Hospital, was visiting her sister and her husband in Newcastle for Christmas when the horror incident happened.
Now, she's received an Australian Bravery Decoration for her courageous decision to save a life.
Ms Whitbourn did not stop to think, peeling off her dress and swimming as fast as she could to help the struggling 18-year-old.
Her heroic efforts almost cost her her life, as the young man panicked, pushing her under as he desperately tried to find air.
"I had to swim out from under him and I just kind of grabbed him and said, 'Just be calm, be calm, I'm trying to help'," Ms Whitbourn said.
"I got him floating on his back and another wave came and dumped us again and the same thing happened.
"It was at that point that I got quite worried, I thought, 'I'm not sure if we're going to survive this'."
The third time he dragged her under, Ms Whitbourn said she thought she was going to die.
"I thought I'm going to be drowned, here on Christmas night in front of my kids," she said.
"The adrenaline kicked in and it kind of fuelled me to get back up, he was trying to survive and I understand, it's fight or flight."
Thankfully, some onlookers had seen the pair fighting to keep their heads above water.
One of those people was Newcastle's Paul Kish, who grabbed a board and rushed out to help.
Once safely back to shore, an ambulance arrived to take the young man to hospital.
As Mr Kish and Ms Whitbourn debriefed, it became clear that Merewether Beach was in desperate need of some life-saving equipment available to the public in an emergency.
"Ever since then, Merewether Life Saving Club and the council I believe have been in discussions," Ms Whitbourn said.
"Whether or not it's a ring where you can break something and get access to it in an emergency, there was just nothing for us to get to.
"It was really scary, looking back and reflecting on what happened there is no way I would go out without looking for something to help me and the other person, because it was just too dangerous.
"In that moment, I just wasn't thinking, I just went straight out for him because I knew he was going under."
Ms Whitbourn said she felt incredibly humbled and thankful that someone had nominated her for a bravery award.
"It's not something you do every day, but it's been a very surreal experience," she said.
"The PTSD is real, I've had lots of psychological appointments where this has been the main focus, the first few nights [afterwards] I didn't sleep.
"Every time I closed my eyes I could see him underwater, and I could feel him pulling me back under.
"It's definitely a life event that I'll never forget."
Ms Whitbourn said she wants all beaches to have publicly available safety equipment that can be used when lifeguards are not around in an emergency.
In the summer of 2022-23, 90 people drowned across Australia, 25 per cent of those drownings took place between Christmas Day and January 2.
Paddington resident Claudia Hamilton has also been recognised for a bravery award after she rescued multiple people from the surf at Blueys Beach near Forster Tuncurry on January 13, 2023.
It was close to 5pm when she saw a number of children and adults caught in a dangerous rip.
Ms Hamilton saved the group of people from drowning in the surf.
