Off-duty lifeguard saves body-boarder When a man was caught by a rip current and swept towards some rocks at Newquay, Rod MacDonald, an off-duty Beach Rescue lifeguard, acted instinctively and bravely to save the man's lifeOff-duty Beach Rescue lifeguard, Rod MacDonald, was walking near Fistral Beach when he was approached by a woman who told him there was someone in trouble in the water. Paul Tilley had gone out from the narrow beach to body board. He had been caught by a rip current soon after entering the water and swept towards rocks between Little Fistral and the main beach.

It was a sunny afternoon on 3 October 2002. Unfortunately for Paul, the lifeguarding season finished just three days before. If the lifeguards had been around, Rod thinks that they 'would have had the guy before he even got close to the rocks'.

Rod had just been surfing himself, but had stopped as the surf was 'big, messy and rippy'. The sea conditions were rough and there was a ground swell of up to 2m.

Instinctively, Rod ran out to the edge of the cliff to see if he could help.

He couldn't see anything, so he ran further towards Little Fistral Bay. He spotted something that 'looked like a seal's head sticking out of the water'. Then he heard the shouts for help and realised it was a man.

Rod raced down to the scene and spotted Paul 50m from the shore.

He asked a passer-by to call 999 for the Coastguard. Rod clambered down the cliff, waded along a gully then swam over rocks and breaking surf to reach the casualty, 20m away. Rod found it relatively easy to get out to Paul: 'I got sucked out there really quickly. To get to him was really easy, but getting back to the beach was a struggle.' Paul was completely exhausted from fighting against the current for 20 minutes. He had let go of his body board when trying to swim to shore and now waves were breaking over his head.

Rod grabbed hold of Paul and tried to get up on the rocks. The pair were washedinto shoulder-depth water, only to be sucked back out of their depth, again and again. An unidentified passer-by and Lee Pulling, a retained fire-fighter, both entered the water to help Rod bring Paul out over the rocky bank, with waves sucking them back into the sea. They managed to lift Paul to the top of the gully, clear of the waves. The Newquay inshore lifeboat arrived but could not help at this stage.

Laid out on the sand, Paul vomited and Rod was glad to see this sign that he was alive. Rod was trying to stop the bleeding from the large wound in Paul's head and was concerned that he may have a spinal injury. Paul had cuts all over his arms and back, from where he had been thrown against the sharp rocks by the breaking waves. He was in deep shock. Paul then turned white and cold, and a pulse was hard to find, but Rod could see Paul's chest rising and falling. An ambulance crew arrived and stabilised Paul's condition. He was then winched to a Sea King helicopter from RNAS Culdrose and taken to hospital, where he made a full recovery.

As a highly trained and experienced lifeguard, Rod knows that he broke the golden rule of lifesaving by entering the water without any rescue equipment or protective clothing, but Rod's instincts to save the man were strong: 'During the incident itself adrenaline just takes over.' He suffered cuts and bruises from not wearing the right gear, but he later commented in true Aussie spirit: 'You're not going to get any less in a rugby game.' It was only after the paramedics had left that Rod started to think back to what had just happened.

Rod receives a Bronze Medal for his quick thinking, initiative and courage.

Simon Pryce, divisional inspector (South), praised Rod's actions in conditions 'that are probably the most difficult in which any lifeguard can experience: heavy surf, strong currents, waves breaking over rocks and nowhere safe to bring a casualty to shore.' Rod modestly says: 'Any of the guys that I work with, if they were in my position, they would have done exactly the same.' But the rescued PaulTilley sees things differently.

He knows full well that without Rod, his life may have been lost. Paul states simply and directly: 'I just have to say thank you..