When veteran surf lifesaver David Winner's limp body was pulled from a deep rockpool at a beach where he had swum almost every day for 40 years, those trying to save him feared they were too late.
"I thought, 'I'm just going through the motions, he's dead to the world'," Mr Winner's neighbour, volunteer lifesaver Andrew Massey, said.
But, as he was trained to do — by Mr Winner — Mr Massey immediately started CPR (cardio-pulmonary resuscitation) and refused to give up on his friend.
"I was going as hard as I could," he said.
A barrage of unpredictable waves had thrust the now-71-year-old swimmer into a deep rockpool at Coalcliff Beach, 60 kilometres south of Sydney, in August 2021.
He hit his head, suffered a spinal fracture, and remained unconscious in the water for more than three minutes.
"I drowned, went into cardiac arrest, and I passed away that day," Mr Winner said.
It took five people to pull Mr Winner out of the sea. They lay him on a rock shelf and, with blood pouring from his head, the group started CPR.
They continued chest compressions for more than 15 minutes until emergency service personnel arrived.
Judy Winner raced to the beach while the fight for her husband's life was unfolding.
"It was surreal, you couldn't believe it was happening," she said.
"The next thing a helicopter arrived with doctors and nurses."
Mr Winner, a life member of Surf Life Saving Illawarra, has trained hundreds of volunteer lifeguards over several decades.
He was known for saying, "I’m teaching CPR because one day, the person being saved might be me!".
Of the 10 people who helped to bring Mr Winner back to life, four had indeed learned CPR from him.
A grand vision to save lives
Following his near-death experience, and after what Royal Life Saving Society Australia chief executive officer Justin Scarr said was "the worst year on record for summer drownings", Mr Winner now has a new mission in life.
He plans to train one million Australians in CPR — for free or at low-cost — by 2030.
"I'm the walking example that CPR is what helps saves lives," he said.
"That's why not only do I practice and teach it, I'm a strong believer [that] everyone should know how to have a go."
Mr Winner, who suffered a spinal cord injury in the accident, is now a quadriplegic and relies on a walker, but he continues to give safety briefings to ocean swimmers and train volunteer lifesavers at Coalcliff Surf Club.
The patrols are more crucial now than ever, after a terrible summer in which 90 people drowned in Australian waterways and swimming pools, and Surf Life Saving Australia performed about 6,000 rescues.
Training a million people in CPR
Mr Winner is establishing a foundation in his name that aims to provide free or low-cost CPR training to people who don't have the financial capacity, time or inclination to do a first aid course.
"We need people to be able to do that first CPR before the emergency responders get there because those first moments are critical," he said.
"And I'm the walking, talking proof of how true that is."
The sessions, run by volunteer CPR trainers, will be held in relaxed community settings, such as halls and surf clubs, and participants will not be required to do a formal exam.
Mr Winner says online training, including instructional videos, will also be available, so that as many Australians as possible will be able to learn lifesaving skills.
The initiative will also offer refresher courses for those who have previous CPR training because techniques and guidelines change over time.
Surf Live Saving Australia said while a full first aid certificate was preferable, the organisation supported short CPR courses, and had also been running them online for the past two to three years.
"There's no doubt that any awareness or skill development in CPR is critically important," general manager of coastal safety Shane Daw said.
"The bottom line with CPR is any attempt is better than no attempt. You never know when the life you save could be a loved one."
The first sessions are due to start next month in New South Wales, but Mr Winner said he planned to expand the initiative across Australia.
