A surfer has recounted his miraculous escape after using his Apple Watch to call for help when he was dragged out 1km to sea. Rick Shearman was out for his regular morning body surf at Tallow Beach in Byron Bay on Saturday when things got a “bit gnarly”. “I jumped in for a quick five-minute swim, I was actually actively seeking out some nice waves,” he told the Today show.
“And after being out in the water for about 20 minutes, it was just getting a bit gnarly. So I decided to make my way in, and on my way in to shore encountered a lot of big dumpers and got caught in the impact zone and held under.” The 49-year-old surfer said he was losing his breath and energy and desperately needed to “get out of there”.
“I hadn’t had my morning Wheaties. As I said, I just got out of bed, so I was well aware my energy stocks were low and I couldn’t take any more ..
. I needed to get out of there,” he said. Getting back to shore was “impossible” for Mr Shearman, who had to think outside the box.
“I had to take stock of next-best options. What could I do to get out of this situation? And honestly, I was stuck and it was at that time that I realised I had this Apple Watch on,” he said. “I thought there must be some kind of SOS feature on it.
I’d had no reason to look at that before but worked it out on the fly and engaged a call through to emergency services.” Mr Shearman told the ABC he was out at sea for about an hour, telling emergency services where h.
