No indication terrible events were unfolding at Inch beach

It was the end of another day which had, up to that point, been uneventful for the lifeguards. Just after 7pm, they were routinely taking down the flag at a popular strand in the south-west.

Out of the corner of his eye, one of them spotted something that just didn’t seem right in the water. Somebody was in trouble. They sprinted a little over 100m to the edge of the surf and saw two women in difficulty.

The lifeguards waded in, up to abdomen level, to carry out a rescue and had the women on the strand without delay before they started CPR.