Police officer rescues teenage boogie boarder from rip at Pourerere Beach

A Central Hawke’s Bay police officer ditched his vest and uniform, grabbed a borrowed boogie board and swam into a rip to rescue a teenage girl being pulled out to sea at Pourerere Beach.

The teenager had been boogie boarding on Tuesday afternoon when her cousin spotted her struggling about 50 metres offshore and called Police.

Officers were dispatched within a minute of the 2.04pm call.

Immediately after, the Police Emergency Communications Centre contacted local fishing crews, Surf Lifesaving NZ, and the Coastguard.

Constables Nyge Walker and Joel Stevenson arrived at 2.17pm, 13 minutes after the call, as the teenager was being carried further out.

The cousin waved them down and pointed to her position in the water.

Walker told Hawke’s Bay News he "just did what was needed".

"I knew since she was right there, I just knew I had to take the opportunity just that quickly, and get things happening, straight away."

As he arrived, Walker assessed the conditions and considered what he could use to help keep him afloat.

“I was already thinking of what sort of buoyancy aid I could use to my advantage, and I was looking at the conditions.”

He asked for a spare boogie board, which was retrieved from the dunes while he removed his vest and uniform.

“There was a highly distinctive rip running about 70-degree angle from the shore. It was highlighted with sand that it was taking."

Walker headed into the water, assessing the dangers as he went. As he approached, he tried to establish whether the teenager could help get herself to safety.

Then she abandoned her board.

“I instructed her to get back onto her board,” he said.

Walker took hold as she climbed back on and began towing her towards shore. He said she appeared shocked and distressed.

Walker estimated she had been in the water for well over 20 minutes, wearing only togs, and believed the water temperature was between 11 and 13 degrees Celsius.

“She just wasn’t in a state of being able to swim to shore.”

He chose a direction he believed would take them into shallower water, repeatedly checking whether he could reach the bottom.

“I’d take the opportunity to see if I could touch the ground, and I was like, nope, I can’t touch it yet.”

Each time he could not, he kept swimming. When he finally found his footing, he pulled the teenager in until she could also touch the bottom.

He recalled thinking: “This is my opportunity to get her safe, don’t hesitate, just make it happen.”

Back on the beach, Stevenson took over while Walker collected his equipment. Another Police unit arrived and took the teenager to a medical centre for assessment after she reported taking in water.

Rescue services who had been notified were then stood down.

Police thanked a commercial fishing crew that had headed towards the beach in case it was needed.

Walker said he had surfed on and off since his teenage years and was familiar with the water.

“I’d do it again, do it tomorrow,” he said.

“It just felt natural for me to do it.”

He urged beachgoers to consider how long help might take to arrive and have a “what-if plan” before entering the water.

“Do they have extra friends with them that can help in that situation, or is there other locals nearby?”