The best of our local community was on display at a beach in Mandurah on Tuesday afternoon.
A young man was doing what he loves, out in the water with his mates from Mandurah Board Riders, when he was attacked by a shark.
It took guts to paddle out and pull Ben Gerring ashore, but that’s exactly what his fellow surfers did.
They brought him up onto the beach on longboards and went for help.
The surfers who were in the water with Mr Gerring then stood by him while emergency crews arrived and began working desperately to save his life.
They comforted his mother who was on the beach, distraught.
Two ambulance crews were on the scene giving CPR to Mr Gerring, while his friends and family looked on.
When the RAC Rescue Helicopter arrived, Mr Gerring’s fellow surfers and friends cleared enough of the beach to allow it to land.
Police officers and ambulance crews worked for what seemed like hours, by that stage taking turns at CPR.
City of Mandurah rangers closed the beach and stayed close to the growing crowd of onlookers.
Mandurah Board Riders president Brian Williams stood by Mr Gerring the entire time, and helped carry him on a stretcher up from the beach to the waiting ambulance.
He stood by comforting surfers and beachgoers after the ambulance rushed Mr Gerring to Peel Health Campus.
It is easy to criticise our emergency services and even first-responders.
They work in a system that is far from perfect, with resources that are at times stretched beyond the limit, but no one who who saw them working desperately to save Mr Gerring could doubt the dedication of these men and women.
These men and women are there for us not only when the media glare is upon them, but they are first on the scene of every accident, every fire, every crime.
Their job is too often thankless and it seems we all too seldom learn their names.
Without their dedication to public service, it is impossible to know how many lives would be lost.
The surfers and bystanders, and all the police and emergency workers involved, are a credit to our community.
And on behalf of the community, we thank them.
Nathan Hondros
Senior Journalist for the Mandurah Mail, Australian Community Media, and Fairfax Media.
Senior Journalist for the Mandurah Mail, Australian Community Media, and Fairfax Media.
