Bravery medals for Ballina women who raced into 'rough, crazy' surf to save drowning girls

Authored by abc.net.au and submitted by Sariel007
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When she heard the screams for help coming from the ocean, Bella Broadley looked around for something she could use and found an esky lid.

Key points: Bella Broadley and Elyse Partridge are credited with saving the life of two girls stuck in a rip at a beach

Bella Broadley and Elyse Partridge are credited with saving the life of two girls stuck in a rip at a beach The young women have been awarded bravery medals by the Governor General

The young women have been awarded bravery medals by the Governor General Bella used an esky lid to help keep one of the girls afloat

Armed with the makeshift flotation device, Bella and her friend Elyse Partridge raced into dangerous surf to save two 11-year-old girls who were struggling.

"We were just having a little picnic at the beach with some girlfriends and this woman came up to us and was like, 'I can't swim and my girls are drowning,' and we just jumped into action," she said.

The girls were at Angels Beach near Ballina, an unpatrolled beach along a stretch of coastline popular with surfers.

On January 30, 2021, the younger girls, Chloe and Violet, became trapped in a rip, overwhelmed by waves and the current.

The girls were caught in a rip and swept onto the rocks at the southern end of Angels Beach. ( ABC North Coast: Hannah Ross )

To make things worse, it was around 8pm and getting dark.

"It was so rough, it was crazy," Bella, now aged 19, said.

"[I was] just swimming out and thinking, 'Oh my gosh, how am I going to get back in? This is bad'.

"But luckily I had the esky lid for part of the way to keep my head above the water and once I got to Violet I just swam for my life."

Bella handed the esky lid off to Chloe and swam further out to help Violet.

Elyse was close behind, and helped Chloe back to shore.

"I remember just grabbing my arms around her and trying to swim in, but we ended up hitting the rocks," 20-year-old Elyse said.

"I ended up being quite bruised and had lots of cuts all over my hands from the rocks but obviously I'm fine and it would have been scarier in the water."

Bella (right) is one of 66 Australians being recognised on Wednesday for her act of bravery. ( ABC North Coast: Hannah Ross )

Later, Chloe and Violet described how they swallowed seawater and were increasingly exhausted by their fight to keep their heads above water.

Violet needed to spend the night in hospital.

Bystanders and police who attended the scene told Elyse and Bella that without their help, the younger girls would likely not have survived.

"I was quite happy that we ended up doing it because I kept just thinking about what could've happened if we hadn't gone in," Elyse said.

"I see those girls out and about in the town and I just get a bit emotional sometimes," Bella said.

"If we weren't there, these beautiful girls wouldn't be alive."

Elyse and Bella were on Wednesday named on the Governor General's Australian Bravery Decorations Honours List, which recognised 66 Australians for acts of bravery.

They were nominated by Erin Danks, Violet's mum, who was at home when she received the call about the rescue.

"Immediately after we had gotten out of hospital and I knew Violet was good, my thoughts turned to Bella and Elyse," she said.

"I didn't know them at the time and I just thought … I need to meet them, and I need to know if they're okay."

Chloe, Violet, Elyse and Bella all reunited earlier this week to celebrate the bravery medals. ( ABC North Coast: Hannah Ross )

Ms Danks said she, Violet and Chloe each put together statements about what happened so Bella and Elyse could be considered for a bravery award.

"They were really brave, really selfless, they got out there and risked their own lives," Ms Danks said.

"I'm not sure if they knew at the time how bad the rip was … we're just lucky as a community that we did not lose four lives."

Over the 2022-23 summer, there were 54 coastal drowning deaths around Australia, 28 of which were in NSW.

Nine per cent of the fatalities were people trying to save someone else from drowning.

Elyse has some surf lifesaving training experience and Bella is a former club swimmer, but the stress of the rescue has stayed with them.

They both called for people to be more safety-conscious at the beach, and learn how to spot and avoid rips.

"I've got two younger brothers and whenever I'm at the beach, I'm like, 'Can you please just stay in and don't go too far?'" Bella said.

"And obviously they want to go out and be in the deep, but it's just so scary to me now."

bcjh on March 23rd, 2023 at 16:53 UTC »

This happened to me when I was kid. Random stranger saved me from the crazy undertow as I was getting swept out to sea and intense waves almost making me drown.

Meanwhile my dad was laying in the sand soaking up the sun and has no idea if ever happened.

Thank you random stranger for pulling me ashore.

jenglasser on March 23rd, 2023 at 16:05 UTC »

This kind of shit right here is why I need to get into better shape. If I had rushed in to help, we just all would have died.

Phuckingphilly on March 23rd, 2023 at 14:58 UTC »

Thought I was looking at 2 pictures of the same 2 girls for a second