Byron Bay police officer, a former Bondi Rescue lifeguard, makes dramatic surf rescue
Police responded to the incident involving three French tourists at Byron Bay. (Supplied: NSW Police)
In short:
A policeman who was a former Bondi Rescue lifeguard has rescued three French tourists at Little Wategos Beach in Byron Bay.
The men were found clinging to rocks about 100 metres from the beach, with waves breaking over them.
What's next?
A 31-year-old man is receiving treatment at Lismore Base Hospital and is in a serious but stable condition.
Three French tourists are recovering after they were saved by a former Bondi Rescue lifeguard while clinging to rocks in pounding surf at Byron Bay.
Tommy Frazer, now a Byron Bay police officer, is being praised as a hero after a routine patrol of the Byron Bay CBD turned into a three-person rescue on Tuesday night.
"Nah, I don't like that word," Constable Frazer said.
"I'm just a regular fella, who loves the ocean and was just doing my job."
After members of the public made Triple Zero (000) calls, Constable Frazer and his partner Constable Toby Govan drove under lights and sirens to Wategos Beach.
They then ran around the headland to Little Wategos Beach to reach the novice surfers stranded on a smaller rocky outcrop.
"I made the decision pretty quickly that I was going in," he said.
"I ditched my gun, took off my clothes apart from my undies and swam out to them."
He says the French tourists were visibly panicked when he arrived, which forced the former lifeguard to climb onto the rocks with them, a situation made more difficult by panic and a language barrier.
"All I wanted to do was relax them and let them know it was all good; it [the language barrier] makes it a bit tricky but I probably wouldn't be swimming out to someone that's just floating around in their undies either."
The three surfers got into trouble on the southern side of a rocky outcrop at Little Wategoes at Cape Byron Headland. (Wikimedia Commons: Maksym Kozlenko, CC BY-SA 4.0)
Calming the panic
Constable Frazer was making plans to save the trio all the while trying to keep them calm.
"I knew that even if the jet ski didn't come, if I could get them into the water we would wash back to shore naturally, but they wanted to go via the rocks, which is the worst thing they could've done."
One of the men seemed to be in a worse condition than the others, appearing to pass out.
"I had to get a hold of him and his mate and dive [back] in with a wave, get washed across the rocks and back into deeper water."
Two of the visitors were stronger swimmers and once back in the water made their way to shore as Constable Frazer was treading water while keeping the terrified Frenchman's head above water.
Police and the rescue helicopter, at Wategos Beach, involved in the rescue. (Supplied: Sam Beverley)
"He was trying to 'climb the ladder' and push anything under that he could get his hands on and eventually I was able to get a hold of him from a rear head lock and kept him afloat for a couple minutes until the jet ski pulled up."
Always prepared
After being treated on the beach, the man was sent to Lismore Base Hospital in a serious but stable condition.
After a decade as a professional lifeguard before joining the police force, Constable Frazer said he'd been involved in scarier rescues.
Tommy Frazer appeared on the popular TV series Bondi Rescue. (Supplied: Channel 10)
"Spending four years working at Bondi Beach made it a lot easier for me to manage that situation. It sounds a bit hectic but luckily or unlucky for me, it's not the most hectic rescue I've been a part of," he says.
The Byron Bay police officer says despite hanging up the budgie smugglers, he's always prepared.
"I have a rule, I don't wear white undies because I know there's always a chance I might end up back in the water."