Man rescued after calling for help on Apple Watch giving back in charity walk

AFTER being winched to safety by the Westpac Life Saver Rescue Helicopter when he was swept out to sea and called for help on his smart watch, Rick Shearman is giving back to the not-for-profit service by taking part in the Byron Coastal Charity Walk for the first time on May 3.

The 49-year-old designer from Suffolk Park, who was rescued from Tallow Beach last July, said the chopper literally saved his life.

“I was out bodysurfing and when I decided to head home I just couldn’t get out of the impact zone — I kept copping wave after wave on the head, it was just relentless,” he said.

“I knew I couldn’t take much more of that so punched out the back beyond the breakers to reevaluate the situation and seek a channel in. There were no channels anywhere, and before I knew it — whooshka — I was caught in a current taking me out to sea.”

Shearman started looking at his Apple Watch to see if there were any emergency features on it.

“Thankfully the interface was very intuitive and I worked it out on-the-fly in extremely challenging conditions, placing a call with 000 from 1.6 kilometres or more out to sea and making them aware of my plight,” he said.

“The fact that I initiated the rescue from my Apple Watch is what went big in the press, but the heroics and efficient professionalism of the Westpac rescue chopper crew is what plucked me from the surf and brought me to safety.”

Last year Shearman raised $6,600 taking part in the service’s Base to Base fitness challenge. He’s also made a couple of sizeable donations to them, set up a monthly donation and included them in his will.

So far he has raised $300 of a modest target of $500 for the charity walk.

“But I hope to far exceed it,” he said.

To sponsor Shearman, visit events.rescuehelicopter.com.au/fundraisers/rickshearman

For more information about the event, visit events.rescuehelicopter.com.au