A young tourist who almost drowned at Lorne on Friday afternoon has offered an emotional thank-you to the local heroes who saved her live.
Kate Japaridze, a native Georgian who lives in the Netherlands, has been travelling the world, arriving in Victoria before Christmas and has been in Lorne for about a month.
Ms Japaridze decided to head to the beach near the Erskine River heads for a swim on Friday at about 4pm, before she got into trouble when strong currents took her hundreds meters off shore.
A witness who watched the situation unfold noted there was a strong current warning in place for that area of the beach on Friday.
Two police officers had run down to the beach after seeing Ms Japaridze in trouble, one stripping down and swimming after her while the other officer called for help.
Surf lifesavers were also called from the main beach in a rubber rescue IRB.
“I tried to swim back to the shore but I just couldn’t fight (the current),” Ms Japaridze said.
“I realised that the people I saw on the shore were getting smaller and the current was taking me back,” she said.
“In the beginning I honestly didn’t realise I couldn’t get out, I think after 10 minutes fighting it I started screaming for help and waving at the people on the beach.”
She said a man had reached her after about 20 minutes but the current was too strong for him to swim them both to shore.
“He told me to stay there and that he’ll be back, so that gave me a reassurance that the help was on the way.”
Kate said she eventually relaxed as she waited for further help to arrive, with surf lifesavers eventually coming to her aid and helping her onto the boat.
“This was the closest I have been to thinking I was going to die.
“If the people who helped me were not there I would definitely not have survived.
“They actually risked their lives to save mine, I hope they know how brave they were for doing this for me and how grateful I’ll be for the rest of my life.
“For the community that is down here in Lorne, the people are really warm and really nice.”
Kate said she will continue her travels in Japan and Vietnam, but says she’ll be back in Australia again in June.
She plans to return to her home in the Netherlands after her travels.
