The 32-year-old man who was transported to hospital following a near drowning incident at Boomerang Beach earlier this week, has returned home with little more than nasty sunburn.

The man's wife, Teresa said the incident was both interesting and terrifying, and taught her an important lesson - follow your gut.

Mathew and my child were swimming off the beach when he felt a rip forming nearby Teresa told the Great Lakes Advocate.

Concerned about the safety of his child, Mathew sent her back to shore and raise his hand to indicate he needed help.

"He was raising his hand and at first I thought he was waving," Teresa said.

However, once her daughter was almost halfway back to shore, Teresa realised something was wrong, running into the water to help the youngster.

"Then I ran towards a group of people screaming for help and asking someone with a board to help Mathew and for someone to call 000.

"Fortunately there were three young men who ran over to help and a lovely family who watched the girls while I waited at the shore.

The oldest of the young men got to Mathew within seconds and pulled him in on their board.

"I sat with Mat until the lifeguard got to him to start him on oxygen and the paramedics were called.

"The other two young men went and told the children that their daddy was okay and that he was just resting.

"But, what I love about those boys was they were asking Mathew if anyone else needed help and were ready to go in looking."

My husband has severe asthma and, even though he was only on the sandbar, he would not have been able to make it to shore without help, Teresa said.

"He was released from the hospital with clear lungs and his oxygen levels were back to normal.

"Aside from wicked sunburns I'm currently treating them for, they're in good health and we will never swim in the unpatrolled parts of Boomerang again."

EARLIER:

A 32-year-old man was transported to Manning Hospital by ambulance yesterday afternoon after he was rescued by a surfer at the southern end of Boomerang Beach.

The rescue occurred at around 3:10pm on Tuesday, January 7 after the man, believed to be a tourist from Newcastle, became stuck in a rip while trying to rescue his child, who had also gotten into difficulty.

Luckily a local surfer came to the man's rescue, helping him to shore, while it is believed the child was able to get back to shore on their own.

A patrolling lifeguard from the northern end of Boomerang Beach then rushed to the scene and administered first aid, before an ambulance arrived and transported the man to hospital.

MidCoast lifeguard supervisor, Warren Keegan, expected the man to make a full recovery, but said he wasn't in a good way when he was rescued.

"When he got pulled out of the water he was very exhausted," he said.

"He was close to blacking out."

Related:

The incident was the second to occur at the southern end of Boomerang Beach this holiday season, after a 36-year-old man - also believed to be a tourist - was pulled from a rip and transported to hospital on December 27.

"In both instances luckily there were members of the public on hand," Mr Keegan said.

"These two guys are really lucky that things weren't worse."

Mr Keegan said it was concerning that people were still making the decision to swim in unpatrolled areas, especially when there were lifeguards patrolling on the same beach.

"We've got a patrol set up at the north end seven days a week and members of the public are still choosing to swim outside the flags," he said.

"So the message is getting people to swim in the flags, particularly if they're not strong swimmers."

Mr Keegan said the southern end of Boomerang Beach was particularly treacherous to unwitting swimmers this season, given that it was much more open to the nor-east swell that had predominantly been running along the coast.

"We've got a really nice sandbank and really nice conditions at the northern end where the patrol is," he said.

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