Local Indigenous sailing trainees save man in dramatic rescue
Three young Indigenous men from the Ballina district who are on a training course on the training ship Tribal Warrior were involved in a dramatic rescue of a fisherman off the Gold Coast.
The Sunday Telegraph reported today that one of the men, Jermaine Bolt, jumped into the water off Broadwater last Sunday to save the fisherman from drowning.
The fisherman, aged 30 and known only as ‘Des’, had been thrown from his small aluminium boat after apparently swerving to avoid a jet ski. He was bleeding from a gash to the back of his head and was face-down in the water when spotted.
The Sunday Telegraph reported that Jermaine, aged 22, jumped into the water and swam to the man.
Tribal Warrior deckhand Conrad Parkes launched the Tribal Warrior’s tinnie and positioned it between an out-of-control boat and Jermaine, who was attempting to turn the man upright in the water.
Another Tribal Warrior crewman, Wayne Brown, 17, jumped into the water to assist Jermaine and they got the man into the tinnie.
The Sunday Telegraph said Jermaine had to be admitted to hospital after experiencing breathing difficulties.
The injured fisherman regained consciousness after being placed on board the Tribal Warrior and spent a day in hospital.
Jermaine, Josh Button and John Jackson are the three local men on board the Tribal Warrior for her training sail to Palm Island in Queensland.
They were placed on board by Ballina’s Wesley Uniting Employment, which will seek out job opportunities for the three in the maritime industry when they return home on September 10.
The Tribal Warrior is a 100-year-old former pearling lugger from the Torres Strait which is used to give Indigenous people experience in sailing and the maritime industry.
On board, trainees gain skills in sailing, navigation, anchorage, fire fighting, survival techniques, as well as basic first aid.
The three local men certainly got to use their newly-acquired skills in an emergency situation!
PICTURES: Josh Button, Jermaine Bolt and John Jackson (above) and the Tribal Warrior (below). Pictures courtesy of Wesley Uniting Employment, Ballina.
