She was going to die – local

She was rescued by two men, local Stephen Hanley, who was working on the big, nearby water slide and Hayden Wiles who was known to the female.

“I’m glad we rescued her because she was going to die,” Mr Hanley of DrainFlow Solutions told the Yarrawonga Chronicle.

“It was about 12.30am – we were working on the water slide which had a broken pipe. “A girl came and asked if we’d seen a girl. I put our torch on around the area and over the water and put our car headlights on. We heard her screaming, about 80 or 90 metres away, the other side of the enclosed concrete area out further into the lake.

“Chelsea (Stephen’s daughter) rang 000, Hayden Wiles jumped in and I jumped in. It was a still night – there was not a ripple on the water – only where she was.

“She was spluttering and coughing up water. Hayden grabbed her arms, I grabbed her legs and it took up about 10 minutes to get to shore where we rolled her on the side and waited for the Ambulance. She was lucky it was a still night.”

Steve was not looking for personal glory. “It was a team effort by the three of us,” the 51-year-old said. “She was in all sorts of trouble. We’re glad she was pulled out and taken to hospital.”

The woman was allegedly under the influence of alcohol before entering the water. 

Senior Constable Dave Griffith of Yarrawonga Police praised the efforts of the trio. “It’s a timely reminder,” he said. “Drinking and swimming don’t mix.

“This situation could easily have resulted in a death. Instead of a woman seeing in the New Year and sharing 2020 with her family and friends it may well have been a different scenario.

“Obviously we want to deter people from drinking then swimming. That’s serious enough and then to attempt that so late at night in the dark is ridiculous.”

Last summer a 37-year-old Melbourne man, under the influence of alcohol, died below the Yarrawonga Weir over the Australia Day weekend in 2019.