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The Mail is counting down the top 10 most read stories of 2016. Here’s what came in at number nine:
July 19, 2016: An 18-year-old Busselton resident saved the life of a woman after she got swept out to sea on July 17.
Brayden Mitchell had driven to the Queen Elizabeth Avenue floodway with his girlfriend to check out the state of the weekend’s flooding, when he noticed a woman in trouble.
“We just drove down there to see how much it was flowing because of all of the rain, and a lady was throwing a toy to her dog and just ended up in the water,” he said.
Mr Mitchell said the woman, who was on the other side of the drain, was trying to rescue her dog from the water before she started to get swept out to sea.
“She was yelling out for help and she was maybe 50m out and going out further,” he said. “She was struggling.”
Mr Mitchell, who is a local surfer, jumped in to help.
“It was pretty rough, there were waves coming over our heads as we were coming in,” he said. “The lady was getting dumped and waves were just crashing over the top of us.
“She could not stand up because she was too cold and I could not help her because I was too cold – that is when my girlfriend ran in and helped us both out.”
Mr Mitchell said when they got out of the water they were both blue.
Emergency services attended the scene and took the two to hospital where they were treated for hypothermia.
The woman, called Susan, told the Mail she was lucky to be living in Busselton.
“Thank you for the bravery of a local young man, Brayden Mitchell, who rescued me from the stormy, black and bitterly cold waters in Geographe Bay on Saturday evening and the quick response from the Busselton ambulance services and police, and wonderful staff at Busselton Hospital,” she said.
“I want to express my heartfelt gratitude and admiration for Brayden who risked his life to swim out to rescue me. I want to express special appreciation to all those people who assisted and especially to Louise for ensuring my dog got home, safe and sound.”
It was not the first time Mr Mitchell had rescued someone at the floodway – last year he saved two boys who were swept out by the current.
