Every mission is a story of courage, care, and commitment
“It was the biggest life changing moment for all three of us. We wouldn’t be here today if it wasn’t for the guys who came and saved us.” – James Connelly, Rescued Fisherman
James Connelly, his best mate, Stuart Perry, and his mate’s son, Logan Banek, know they are lucky to be alive. The trio were enjoying a day of fishing and were about 37 kilometres off the coast of Coledale south of Sydney, when disaster struck.
“We’d set off about 7 o’clock in the morning on Saturday for a shark fishing tournament,” James said. “About five hours later, we realised we were in trouble, and we were taking on a lot of water. The boat rolled in about thirty seconds, and we were in the water.”
Their boat submerged, and at the mercy of the ocean around them, Stuart found his phone in his pocket. He called Triple Zero, who mobilised the Westpac Life Saver Rescue Helicopter; immediately sparking an emergency rescue operation with one important mission – to save three precious lives from a tragic end.
After 40 minutes in the ocean, where every passing second felt like a lifetime, the sense of relief when the group saw the red and yellow of the Westpac helicopter approaching was incredible.
“I thought that both my best mate and my mate’s son were gone. We didn’t think we were going to make it,” said James.
“And then we saw the chopper and Stuey goes, ‘that’s the Westpac!’ And it just flew straight towards us,” he said.
“It felt like a massive relief,” said Logan. “As soon as I saw the helicopter coming, I said to myself, ‘I’m going home’. I felt so happy.
”I can’t thank the crew enough. They saved my life and saved my friends lives too.”
What is the Southern NSW Westpac Life Saver Rescue Helicopter Service?
“The service has flown thousands and thousands of missions. You see over the years, how many people this service has rescued.” – Trevor Cracknell, Air and Rescue Crew.
Operating seven days a week, 365 days a year from bases in La Perouse in Sydney and Moruya Airport on the NSW South Coast – the Westpac Life Saver Rescue Helicopter Service is a community based not-for-profit organisation providing vital, and often lifesaving, rescue services to communities in Sydney, Central Coast and the South Coast communities of NSW.
The service is free - and in emergencies when just seconds could mean the difference between life and death, and treacherous and remote locations often hinder accessibility by any other means – the incredible impact of having a service like this available to the community and visitors to Southern NSW cannot be understated.
A Commitment to Protect the Community and Save Precious Lives
Every second counts in these situations. And the sooner we can get out there, the sooner we can get the people into a safe environment. In a matter of minutes, the situation can change dramatically.” Jake Cleal-Cook, Rescue Crew.
The Westpac Life Saver Rescue Helicopter Service is crucial in time-sensitive rescues, patient retrieval, medical emergencies, natural disasters, mishaps and accidents. It operates in all manner of terrain from rugged coastlines to remote bushland, urban centres to rural townships.
The helicopter is equipped for search and rescue, winch operations, and inter-hospital transfers. Each mission is led by an experienced team of pilots, aircrew, and rescue crew.
“The Westpac Life Saver Rescue Helicopter service has been operating for over 51 years, in this time over 100,000 missions have been performed”, said Shane Daw, General Manager.
“Our speciality is the ocean and water environments rescuing swimmers, rock fishers, craft users as well as attending to boat rescues such as this one off the shores of Coledale. However, we are regularly involved in search and rescue operations in the mountain and alpine regions, including Mount Kosciuszko and the Blue Mountains, to the bush and remote areas of NSW including aircraft incidents as well as natural disasters including flood event.
“Simply put, we go wherever we are needed to bring people home safely.” he said.
Behind each unique mission is the same commitment: To save lives and protect the community.
In the Air and On the Ground: The heroes who make it possible
“The sense of pride turning up here and putting the uniform on in the morning and just knowing that when we leave the building, we’re going out to help the community and make a meaningful impact.” – Jake Cleal-Cook, Rescue Crew.
The Southern NSW Westpac Life Saver Rescue Helicopter Service crew is made up of highly trained professionals including pilots, aircrew, rescue crew, and specialist engineers, who work as a seamless team under high-pressure conditions.
The training that is undertaken is specialised and ensures that in emergencies everyone works together to achieve the best possible outcome for those they have been tasked to assist.
This includes regular training on HUET (Helicopter Underwater Escape Training), winch operations, land and water rescue operations, and intensive emergency medical First Aid delivery. Scenario training and SAREX (Search and Rescue Exercises) is also undertaken, to ensure when it matters each person knows what to do and has trust in the other members of the team.
“Whether you are checking on someone to make sure they are safe, flying 80km offshore to find people who have come off their boat, coming to the aid of a person who has fallen down a cliff in the bush, or assisting those caught in flood water - our crew and aircraft must always be rescue ready. When minutes matter, every second counts,” Shane said.
The Westpac Life Saver Rescue Helicopter Service also works closely with other emergency services including the NSW Police Force to assist in land and sea search and rescue; Surf Life Saving NSW to ensure the safety of the community along the coastline; NSW State Emergency Service (SES) to provide flood rescue operations and disaster support throughout NSW; the Rural Fire Service for other emergency support; and both the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) and Australian Search and Rescue (AusSAR) to respond to distress beacons activated by bushwalkers, aircraft or marine vessels.
A Lifesaving Service with an Incredible Impact
“Some people who we rescue say, ‘how much is this going to cost?’ There’s no bill at the end of the rescue which is incredible. To have this asset on the coast, it’s a fantastic operation.” Trevor Cracknell, Air and Rescue Crew.
For James, Stuart, and Logan, the Westpac Life Saver Rescue Helicopter Service and its crew gave them a second chance at life. Their friends and families spared the heartbreak of losing a loved one to a tragic end.
“These guys do an amazing job day in and day out,” said James. To them it’s a job, but to us, you guys are lifesavers. You saved our lives and brought us home to our families, fiancés, kids. We owe everything to those guys who showed up,” he said.
“This service is so important,” said Logan’s mother, Alison. “Everything they do is amazing. They rescued my son, and I can’t thank them enough for what they did.
“It’s such a great organisation and if we didn’t have it there would be so many people out there who wouldn’t return home,” she said.
The service is completely free, so how does the Westpac Life Saver Rescue Helicopter Service stay operational?
Funding is provided through the invaluable support of our naming rights sponsor Westpac Banking Corporation, the NSW Government, fundraising and donations from the communities we serve. Westpac has been a partner since our inception in 1973, making it one of the longest corporate community partnerships in Australia.
Every donation helps us in our mission to save lives and protect our communities, and you can make an impact too by donating to the Westpac Life Saver Rescue Helicopter Service. Your generous support can come in the form of an individual donation, workplace giving, or a fundraising activity, and will go a long way to keeping our systems running efficiently and our vital service in the air.