‘I just needed to stay calm’: Teen tells of rescue from Pourerere Beach rip

Swept about 50 metres offshore and too exhausted to paddle back, 16-year-old Ava Bellamy concentrated on keeping her head above water while waiting for help at Pourerere Beach.

She had seen her cousin, Jack, on the phone and believed he was calling for help.

“At first, I was a bit panicky,” Ava told Hawke’s Bay News, alongside her father, Nathaniel Bellamy, just days after the rescue.

“But then after a while, I just knew that my cousin had gotten help. So I just needed to stay calm and try to keep my head above water.”

Ava had been boogie boarding with Jack and a friend on Tuesday afternoon when she began being carried further out to sea.

“When we first got in, it was fine. And then it just happened.”

Her friend managed to get out before being carried out too, she said.

“My cousin did try to come out and get me and try to get me to go back in, but I was already kind of weak at that point, so I had no body strength left to be able to paddle myself back in.”

Jack called 111 at 2.04pm. Constables Nyge Walker and Joel Stevenson arrived at 2.17pm, 13 minutes after the call.

Walker removed his vest and uniform, borrowed a boogie board and swam out to Ava.

“Once the police officer came out, that’s when I finally felt relief,” she said.

“Someone was coming to get me, and I just felt good about that.”

Ava estimated she had been in the water for 20 to 30 minutes.

“I couldn’t really move from my knees up. I just couldn’t feel it, really.”

Walker previously told Hawke’s Bay News he knew he needed to act while she was still within swimming distance, before the situation became a boat rescue.

“I just did what was needed,” he said.

He towed Ava towards shallower water, repeatedly checking whether he could reach the bottom. Once he found his footing, he pulled her in until she could also touch the ground.

Local resident Tracy Gay had also come down to help prepare a boat, but Police arrived before it was in the water.

Nathaniel thanked all involved.

“We are very thankful for everyone’s help. I’m a really grateful parent.”

Nathaniel was at work when Police called at about 2.55pm to tell him Ava had been caught in a rip but was safe and warming up at the Gays’ home.

“My heart dropped a little bit,” he said.

“It could have been a lot worse. We could have been planning her funeral.”

After the rescue, Gay took Ava to her house for a shower and helped her warm up with a blanket.

Her parents then took her to a health centre because she had taken in some water.

Nathaniel said a doctor checked her breathing and found she was all right.

“We just had to keep an eye on her for a few hours.”

She returned to school the following day for an art test.

Nathaniel said Ava had grown up swimming and the family had talked about what to do if caught in a rip.

“We don’t want to hide her from the ocean,” he said. “She loves the ocean, loves the water.”

Ava agreed.

“I’m definitely not afraid of the ocean. I think it’s just I was in the wrong place at the wrong time.”