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Home / Sport

Surfing: Australian surfing stars Tyler and Mikey Wright in dramatic rough surf rescue in Hawaii

news.com.au
1 Jan, 2021 07:35 PM3 mins to read

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Australian pro surfer Mikey Wright has spearheaded a dangerous surf rescue in Hawaii. Photo / Instagram

Australian pro surfer Mikey Wright has spearheaded a dangerous surf rescue in Hawaii. Photo / Instagram

Mikey Wright, the brother of World Surfing Champion Tyler Wright, has saved a life in dramatic scenes on Hawaii.

The wild surf was peppering the shore and a woman was unable to stand up as a heavy set created foamy conditions.

In a pair of videos posted to Tyler Wright's Instagram with the caption "Closing out 2020 with some hero s*** by @mikeywright69" and on Mikey's own page as "Hold my beer", the 24-year-old ran into the wild conditions in incredible scenes.

Just over a week from Tyler's win at the Roxy Pro, the two-time world champion was with her brother and friends at Ke Iki Beach in Hawaii on New Year's Eve afternoon.

"Oh no, he's getting dragged out," a woman said on the video.

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In the background, Mikey, who appeared to be holding the camera, said "he's going to need to be saved" before racing into action.

"You can't save him," someone else said.

Mikey Wright takes to the sand to help save a swimmer in trouble. Photo / Instagram
Mikey Wright takes to the sand to help save a swimmer in trouble. Photo / Instagram

The camera dropped but when it came back up, Mikey, who is also a professional surfer, was sprinting down the beach towards the choppy surf.

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He wasn't the only one but he was the only one able to make it out to a woman who was bobbing in the water.

While it appeared to be shallow, the water was ferocious, knocking down the surfer and the other potential rescuers.

At one point, he even had to hold the woman he was saving as a huge wave smashed into his back.

Mikey Wright helps the swimmer brace against the incoming surf. Photo / Instagram
Mikey Wright helps the swimmer brace against the incoming surf. Photo / Instagram

But a group of others — including Tyler — were finally able to get to Mikey and the woman and drag them away from the water.

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Mikey told The Saturday Telegraph that he pulled his phone out and filmed the bystanders trying to save the woman but quickly realised he needed to help.

Lifeguards were performing another rescue down the beach at the time.

"Then I realised it was getting pretty dangerous so I gave my wife my phone and said 'let's go get her'," he said.

"She was trying to come in (over the rocks) and I said 'we have to go down the beach'.

"We ended up grabbing a hold of her and going down with the current. I just said to her 'don't let go and hold on'."

He added he only had a few scratches on his back after the incident and was glad the woman was safe.

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Australian pro surfer Mikey Wright has spearheaded a dangerous surf rescue in Hawaii. Photo / Instagram
Australian pro surfer Mikey Wright has spearheaded a dangerous surf rescue in Hawaii. Photo / Instagram

Tyler also told The Saturday Telegraph that the pair's surf lifesaving training kicked in with one of the pair going into the surf and the other directing from the beach.

But the surfing community was blown away by the star's heroism.

Surfing legend Mick Fanning commented: "Wow that could have (sic) ended really bad!!! Well done."

WSL commentator Ronnie Blakey added "F***en legendary!".

Former Aussie pro Jessi Miley-Dyer wrote: "What a bloke!!! Wish we had the footage of him scaling the fence. Her lucky day".

She also added "Who needs a cape when you have a mullet".

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Comedian Celeste Barber wrote simply "Holy s***".

There were plenty more comments across the posts including from fellow surfers Joel Parkinson, Sage Erickson and Conner Coffin.

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