Jackson Parr posed for the snap with girlfriend Madison McDonald. Photo / Jackson Parr
Jackson Parr posed for the snap with girlfriend Madison McDonald. Photo / Jackson Parr
This beachside snap of a young couple at an engagement party ended up saving the life of a total stranger who was drowning in the waves behind them.
Jackson Parr posed for the snap with girlfriend Madison McDonald as the pair celebrated his cousin Harrison Day's engagement on Saturday.
Butit wasn't until he glanced down at the picture that he heard chilling screams coming from beyond the shore at Austinmer Beach, 70km south of Sydney, Australia.
Parr sprinted towards the surf and past a woman yelling that her partner was drowning out at sea.
Diving into the waves, Parr then swam for five minutes before reaching David Pelman, who had been caught in a rip.
Recalling the terrifying moment on Facebook, Parr posted: "Every 20 seconds or so I could hear this muffled 'help' so I just kept swimming trying to swim towards the voice."
"I held him up treading water for about five minutes until another guy found us out there and we grabbed him by his hair and started swimming for shore."
Two other guests at the party, Shaun Blair and Ryan Prain, made their way to the troubled pair on surfboards and aided them back towards the shore.
Parr said: "We had drifted out so far away from the beach but the rocks were a lot closer so we said let's swim for the rocks as getting smashed up against them might be our best option and that's what we did.
"There was a group of guys from the engagement party waiting on the rocks and helped us after the waved picked us up and dumped us on them."
A fourth rescuer, Scott Kohlhardt, leapt into the water as the three men struggled to keep Pelman's head above water.
Kohlhardt told The Leader: "I jumped in with a board. The guy was so big, I was worried he was going to grab Ryan and pull him under.
"He was fighting for his life. We were just telling him, 'Mate, you've got to try to hold onto the board.'"
Eventually everyone was pulled to safety, with a team of paramedics having arrived in time to treat Pelman.
Kohlhardt added: "I think we all shook hands, and we handed him over to the paramedics, and then we went back to the party because they wanted to get the speeches under way."
Parr warned people not to go swimming at night.
The scene after the rescue. Photo / Jackson Parr
He wrote: "If you can swim, if you can't swim, please please please don't go swimming at night."
"There were a million different ways that story could have had a horrible ending. I'm so grateful I was in the right place at the right time to help."
