news, local-news, illawarra, wollongong, surf, oscar forman, rescue, rip

OSCAR Forman performs unbelievable feats on the basketball court. Yet perhaps the most heroic deed the Illawarra Hawks co-captain has performed may have been acted out on a Wollongong beach on Sunday. However, the star athlete is not recommending anyone else follow in his footsteps any time soon. Forman and his partner Gaia Ferrari were enjoying a leisurely day at City Beach on Sunday when they noticed a young boy caught in a rip and struggling to stay afloat far off the beach. “I thought he looked in a bit of trouble and I saw this guy looking quite worried on the beach who told me that he was the 14-year-old boy’s father,’’ Forman said on Monday. ``I said `look I’m going for a swim anyway, I’ll go out and check on him’. Realistically I should have got the lifeguards, but I wasn’t sure of the situation. “When I got out there he was in a bit of shock that he’d been dragged out so far, he was paddling and getting nowhere and was worried about the waves. I managed to drag him back in where we met the lifeguards who took him and made sure he was okay. “I don’t recommend doing what I did as it can quickly turn from being one person in trouble into two people in trouble but I wasn’t sure he was in trouble at the time.” Troy Everett credits Forman’s actions and a quick response from lifeguards soon after for saving his 14-year-old son Ethan. Mr Everett said his son was surfing outside the flags and had become separated from his surfboard. “I was conscious I didn’t want to get into trouble myself and Oscar is fitter than most people in Wollongong so I couldn’t have picked a better bloke to go out,” Mr Everitt said. “While Oscar went out, I went down and notified the surf lifesavers …… I was relieved when Oscar and the lifesavers stepped in. They did a great job.” A regular beachgoer, Forman said it further highlighted the need for people to be aware of the dangers of the Illawarra surf. “With the weather conditions the past couple of weeks it’s stirred up a lot of sand and has changed the beach - it doesn’t take long to get dragged out beyond you capabilities pretty quickly,” he said. A family of Hawks fans, Ethan’s siblings Elissa and Eamon met Oscar at the beach on Monday night to pass on their family’s thanks. Mr Everett said he was not certain of the identity of Ethan’s famous rescuer until his son was back on the beach and said “thanks Oscar”.

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