The rescue was teamwork between Probationary Constable Tevita Tuivaga and two fishermen. Photo: South Coast Police District Facebook.
Tevita Tuivaga, a probationary constable at Batemans Bay, faced a different kind of rescue this morning (30 October).
The probationary constable, who only joined the force six months ago in pursuit of a childhood dream, was patrolling on foot along the Batemans Bay foreshore at about 7 am when he spotted a kangaroo floating in the middle of the Clyde River.
It was near the bridge and about 150 metres from the shore.
“It looked calm at first, but I wanted to take a closer look to see if he was panicked,” Tevita said.
He waved over a nearby fishing boat and he and the two fishermen headed out on the rescue mission.
“The closer we got, the more panicked he got and when I touched it, it just went crazy.”
The probationary constable spotted the kangaroo from the foreshore. Photo: Tom McGann.
The group threaded a rope around the roo’s waist, doing their best to stay out of the way of its wildly thrashing arms and legs, before one of the fishermen grabbed its legs and Tevita its arms.
“We kept its head out of the water and slowly pulled it towards the shore,” he said.
There were a few onlookers on Clyde Street, but by the time the kangaroo was hauled onto land near the Oyster Shed on Wray Street, there was clapping and cheering from the crowd that had gathered there.
The South Coast Police District later posted to its Facebook page about the heroic rescue, describing Probationary Constable Tuivaga as “our own Russell Coight”.
Tevita agreed it was the most interesting job he’d had in his six months in the force.
“I did not expect policing would involve saving a kangaroo from the water with two random fishermen.”
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