Lifesavers pay tribute to their heroic Bondi brethren

2 months ago 19

As Australia mourns the tragedies at Bondi, life-saving organisations across the country are gathering to pay tribute to the victims, and to honour those who risked everything to help protect others.

Standing silently at the beach they volunteer their time to protect, dozens of members from the Altona Life Saving Club in Melbourne’s west gathered to honour their fellow lifeguards and lifesavers involved in the December 14 terror attack.

Altona Life Saving Club lifesavers stood with emergency service officers to pay tribute to the Bondi victims.

Side-by-side with local police officers and firefighters at the beach on Saturday morning, club members observed three minutes of silence in a tribute to the 15 innocent victims who lost their lives, those who were injured, and those who tried desperately to help.

On the day of the Bondi massacre, the beach’s famed lifesavers sprinted into the carnage to help, putting their own lives at risk as they treated the wounded and ushered terrified people to safety.

Many of the lifesavers had been among the first responders at Bondi, ferrying wounded to the lawn outside their club, where paramedics and doctors who had been off-duty nearby treated the injured.

“I just think about how impacted that Bondi club would be after this,” Altona Life Saving Club’s 21-year-old patrol captain Alice Henry said.

Altona Life Saving Club members Alice Henry and Jeremy Cassar.

“They’ve just done the most amazing job. They’ve come down to volunteer their time, and they’ve done so much more than what’s in our quote-unquote job description. Such amazing efforts in protecting the community.”

Patrol vice captain and support trainer Jeremy Cassar, 17, said the Bondi lifesavers needed to be applauded for their quick responses.

“What they did was way past what they should ever need to do on the beach,” he said.

“They put their lives at risk on Sunday, and I think they should be very much proud of what they’ve done.”

Altona Life Saving Club president Lisa Curran said the impacts of the Bondi terror attack had been felt heavily by members across the country because “life-saving is a movement across Australia”.

“We always think of each other regardless of whether we’re standing on the beach here, standing on the beach down the coast, in NSW, anywhere,” she said.

“There is that compassion, dedication and empathy for each other and that comradeship, so just that in itself, really does speak volumes as to where we stand as a movement, but how we feel and how need to support our fellow members.”

Earlier in the day, hundreds of lifesavers gathered on Bondi Beach almost a week after the deadly attack.

The honour guard of red and yellow uniforms stretched from one end of Bondi’s shoreline to the other as they stood in silence for three minutes. Nippers clung to their parents. A woman had a tear poised to drop on the baby in her arms.

Surf Life Saving NSW CEO Steven Pearce said other clubs around Australia were also standing on Saturday in solidarity.

“I’m so incredibly proud, we all stood shoulder to shoulder, we all cried,” Pearce said.

With Julie Power

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