A Scots son has told of the terrifying moment his dad nearly lost his life in a ‘freak wave’ before being saved by ‘heroic’ RNLI volunteers who had to resuscitate him.
Duncan Gordan MacDonald, known as Gordon, lost consciousness after being pulled under by the ‘tsunami-like wave’ while on a family day out near Campbelltown. The 56-year-old was in paddling-depth water during the trip to Westport Beach with nephew David and his two children Erin and Alistair on August 6 when disaster struck.
Thankfully Campbeltown Coastguard had a visual and was able to direct RNLI volunteers to him. The dad-of-two, who lives in Cumbernauld, was given life-saving CPR before being transported to hospital where started his recovery.
Now Gordon’s son, also called David, has hailed teams who came to his rescue, which he dubbed an ‘absolute miracle’. Speaking to the Record, the 28-year-old said: “I’ve gone from thinking I’d lost my dad four weeks ago to him here and well. It’s still a bit surreal. We have been very lucky.
“The RNLI are heroes. Without those guys, I have no doubt my Dad wouldn’t be here. Ironically my dad hates the beach and sand so we thought he’d be the last person to need them but it just goes to show you never know when you have to rely on them.
“It’s an absolute miracle.”
© Supplied Gordon and son David who described the RNI as ‘heroes’ for saving his dad’s life.
Erin was also pulled under by the wave, while David managed to scramble his way up the beach to safety. But Gordon lost his footing after throwing Erin over the swash to the safety of her father and was pulled out further by a second wave.
After locating Gordon, the rescue crew of William Livingstone, Gregor Menzies and Michael Smith, pulled him onto the lifeboat and immediately started chest compressions. They got him to shore where CPR continued to be carried out and they were joined by local paramedics.
Thankfully Gordon began breathing and a Coastguard helicopter flew him to Queen Elizabeth University Hospital where he was taken to ICU and put into an induced coma on a ventilator.
After a positive night in the intensive care unit (ICU), Gordon was then put onto reduced sedation as the hospital staff removed the ventilator tube and replaced it with a free-flowing oxygen mask.
Gordon suffered damage to his sternum as a result of the resuscitation. He was also found to have an infection in his lungs causing pain while breathing, along with a fractured sternum.
© RNLI/Carla Jackson RNLI volunteers (L-R) William Livingstone, Gregor Menzies and Michael Smith, who saved Gordon’s life.
Gordon was moved out of ICU and into major trauma on August 10. After making strong progress he returned home to rest on August 18 where he is till recuperating.
David added: “It was the next day and I was standing talking to the nurse and I looked over at him and he just opened his eyes and looked at me.
“I nearly fell over. I was speaking to him and asking him how he was, and he stuck his thumbs up. A tonne of weight that had been lifted off my chest.
“I’ve never felt so much relief in my life as I did on Sunday morning, my Dad’s here!”
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