![\"Surf](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/2SBKEWMYP5CKJDTJHLCNMXENVU.jpg\")
\nSurf lifeguards in an IRB at P\u0101p\u0101moa Beach. Photo \/ Jamie Troughton, Dscribe Media<\/p>\n
A Wellington man is being hailed for his quick thinking and bravery after paddling into a dangerous rip to rescue a woman who was swept hundreds of metres offshore at P\u0101p\u0101moa Beach earlier this month.<\/p>\n
Dan Holland, a young father in the process of moving his family from Wellington to P\u0101p\u0101moa, had just arrived at the beach on November 8 with his 3-year-old son and a friend when he noticed swimmers unusually far from shore.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe just went there to play with the kids\u2019 diggers,\u201d he said. \u201cAs I got there I sat down and was like: \u2018Whoa, those people are a long way out\u2019. It looked like a worry.\u201d<\/p>\n
Concern to crisis<\/p>\n
Within minutes, the scene shifted from concern to crisis. Holland saw a man in the water waving frantically for help. Realising the woman he\u2019d been trying to reach was in serious trouble, the man was signalling that he could not make it to her.<\/p>\n
\u201cI ran up to the house, which is about 100 metres off the beach, grabbed the lifejackets off my boat, grabbed my surfboard and ran back down,\u201d Holland said.<\/p>\n
When he headed for the house, he estimated the swimmer was about 100 metres offshore. By the time he returned \u2013 two or three minutes later \u2013 she was almost 400 metres out.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou could barely see her head,\u201d he said. \u201cEveryone was panicking, it was pretty crazy.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nSurf lifeguards in an IRB at P\u0101p\u0101moa Beach. Photo \/ Jamie Troughton, Dscribe Media<\/p>\n
Despite briefly questioning whether it was safe to go into such a strong rip, the voices around him made the stakes clear. \u201cEveryone was saying: \u2018She\u2019s dying, someone\u2019s got to go\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n
Holland left his son in the care of a friend, strapped on a lifejacket, secured another for the swimmer, and paddled out.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was quite an easy paddle \u2013 I only needed to duck-dive two waves,\u201d he said. \u201cI got out there quickly because the rip was so strong.\u201d<\/p>\n
When he reached the woman, it was immediately obvious how dire her condition had become.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve never seen anything like it \u2013 her eyes had gone all milky, cloudy. I thought she was on the verge of dying.\u201d<\/p>\n
Difficulty<\/p>\n
He held her on his surfboard and managed, with difficulty, to fasten the second lifejacket around her in the choppy water. She was cold, in deep shock and barely able to speak.<\/p>\n
Holland reassured her that help was coming, but the pair continued to drift. The rip was so wide that paddling out of it would have meant an 80-metre slog sideways \u2013 nearly impossible while supporting another person. Lifeguards later estimated they had reached about 500 metres offshore.<\/p>\n
Still, Holland remained calm.<\/p>\n
\u201cI said: \u2018We\u2019re sweet and floating. Whether I can get you in or not, there\u2019s someone coming to get us\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/JAIA5MQ46BCEZBV7AI4R5NARQA.jpg\")
\nThe beach near Coast Boulevard has a powerful rip. Photo \/ David Hall<\/p>\n
Onshore, police had arrived, with the Aerocool Rescue Helicopter on standby due to the distance involved. P\u0101p\u0101moa lifeguards launched their Inflatable Rescue Boat (IRB), guided into position by lifeguard Poppy Crouch in the club\u2019s ATV.<\/p>\n
The IRB \u2013 crewed by patrol captain Marama Mateparae and lifeguard Sean Leach \u2013 appeared suddenly through the chop.<\/p>\n
\u201cOut of nowhere the IRB was 20 metres away,\u201d Holland said. \u201cSean did a good job, got her in real quick, and got me afterwards. As soon as she got in the boat, you could tell she was going to be all right.\u201d<\/p>\n
Never imagined<\/p>\n
Surf Lifesaving NZ eastern region manager Chaz Gibbons-Campbell said the woman, a regular swimmer, had been caught by a powerful outgoing tide near FreshChoice on Coast Boulevard.<\/p>\n
\u201cA member of the public heard her yelling and tried to swim out but couldn\u2019t reach her,\u201d he said. \u201cDan put a lifejacket on her and stayed with her until help arrived, which was just awesome.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Services](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/WJX5DHD4LZHODJNPS5DNSJJF3Y.jpg\")
\nServices Patrol Captain Marama Mateparae. Photo \/ Jamie Troughton, Dscribe Media<\/p>\n
Mateparae said the first swimmer made \u201ca fantastic judgement call\u201d in turning back when he realised the rip was too strong. By the time the IRB reached Holland and the woman \u201cthey were floating out, but they were safe and not going under\u201d.<\/p>\n
The woman, assessed by Hato Hone St John, later told Holland she had only recently returned to swimming after winter and never imagined she might drown.<\/p>\n
\u201cI even feel bad because I waited like two minutes on the beach deciding whether to go,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Same rip <\/p>\n
Just a day later, a 4-year-old and a 41-year-old were rescued from the same rip.<\/p>\n
Gibbons-Campbell said rips can form anywhere along the beach and are often disguised by deceptively calm patches of water. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of water movement out there, especially around the change of tides,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Holland, who\u2019d like to meet the woman again, still can\u2019t shake how close the rescue came.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was just so lucky I had the right gear.\u201d He\u2019s certain of one thing: \u201cIf I hadn\u2019t gone, she would\u2019ve died.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Wellington man is being hailed for his quick thinking and bravery after paddling into a dangerous rip…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":160196,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[42,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":["post-160195","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/160195","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=160195"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/160195\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/160196"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=160195"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=160195"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=160195"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}