Death scare in high tide for Jayden

Jayden Williams is rescued. Photo / Chris Loufte

Eight-year-old Jayden Williams thought it was all over when a fishing trip with his father went terrifyingly wrong yesterday.

"It was scary, I was cold and I was thinking I was going to die," he said.

Jayden and his father Brett Williams, 38, went fishing with Frank Harris, 44, his 6-year-old son Dante Harris and their dog Chopper near Pongia Point at Cornwallis early yesterday.

The group was fishing off the side of a cliff for about three hours without noticing the high tide coming in.

Within minutes the boys were on their fathers' backs as they waded through a rough 4.4m swell, attempting to reach a higher point.

"I fell in under the water and he [Dante] held onto my neck so he didn't get carried out to sea and I just grabbed on to him," Harris, a father-of-11 with his 12th due next week, said.

"I might not have seen the 12th one. It was a lucky day today."

Soaking wet, cold and worried, they crammed on to rocks for about two hours before the Westpac rescue helicopter winched them to safety.

The children were the first to reach a nearby wharf where the police, ambulance and curious onlookers were waiting.

The rescuers went back for the fathers but only picked up Harris while Brett Williams waited with his dog who wasn't allowed in the helicopter.

Williams and his beloved dog were winched on to the closest beach where a Coastguard boat ferried them to the wharf.

With blue lips and a blanket wrapped around his shoulders, Williams said rescue boats tried to throw lifejackets and a radio but the seas were too rough to reach them.

"I was just panicking really," Williams said. "I've never been that cold before to the point my body was stiff and locking up, it was horrible.

"I had Jayden on my back so he didn't have to walk on the rocks and so none of the waves got him but the waves came up around my neck and I just got Jayden on to a higher spot and sat him on the rocks, the highest point I could."

Williams said he checked the tide charts before heading out but didn't factor in the full moon creating a larger swell than usual.

"I've done heaps of fishing out here, born and bred out west, but never had this happen before so it was a bit scary," Williams said.

Westpac rescue helicopter crewman Dean Harvey warned others to be aware of the conditions before fishing.

"There was quite a big swell coming in and the waves were up to their knees and they weren't far away off being swept off, with no lifejackets and with two children things could have got quite dicey," Harvey said.

Meanwhile, a Westport man drowned after being hit by a "freak wave" yesterday.

David Pascoe was washed off rocks at the West Coast town of Charleston at around 5pm.

His body was pulled from the ocean 1km north at 9 Mile Beach. Attempts to resuscitate him were unsuccessful.