Troy and Kian Hayter receiving their Bravery Awards from RLSSWA President Colin Hassell and WA Governor Kim Beazley AC

Bravery Awards for father and son following dam drama

When Troy and Newsha Hayter took their three boys for a family day out at Pemberton’s Big Brook Dam last year they had no idea what a dramatic day it would turn out to be! It was a warm January day and there were lots of families at the dam, picnicking and making the most of the water to cool off.

Troy was playing with his sons, six-year-old Kian and four-year-old Micah in the water, when Micah’s twin Zeyar decided we would rather try some fishing. Troy told the boys to get out of the water with him as he took Zeyar onto the nearby bank to set up the fishing rods. In the few moments that he turned away Micah and Kian managed to get themselves out into deeper water and were quickly in trouble. Kian, despite having only basic swimming skills, went to rescue his brother, almost drowning himself. Mum, Newsha, was watching from further up the bank and says it happened in a split second. "I could see Kian waving his arms and bobbing up and down in the water, and I could see Micah just floating face down and I started running down and yelled to Troy to go get him. It literally only took about 30 seconds for him to get into trouble in the water."

Troy immediately raced back into the water to rescue the boys, pushing past others who were in the water just metres away from them. "We were there with family and there were lots of other people in the water but they didn't see that Micah was in trouble. You can never assume that someone else is watching the kids, you need to keep your eyes on them all the time. It just happened so fast." says Newsha.

Troy was able to get both boys out of the water before performing CPR on Micah on the shore, while his twin brother Zeyar watched on. He ensured an ambulance was called while he continued CPR until Micah began breathing again. Troy says he is ever grateful for the skills he had learnt to deal with such a situation. “I'm just really thankful for the Bronze Medallion and Aquatic Rescue skills that I'd learned through Royal Life Saving because it meant I knew what I had to do to save him, and I also was aware of the risk of secondary drowning so I knew that we had to get him to hospital."

Immediately after the incident Troy and Newsha enrolled their children at Swan Active Beechboro for Swim and Survive lessons. Over the past year the boys have developed their water confidence, swimming, and survival skills, and thoroughly enjoy their lessons with their instructors. Troy says it’s something all parents should do. “It's really important for kids to learn water safety, so we're really thankful for Swan Active being able to develop the boys' confidence and help them."

For his quick thinking efforts to save his sons Troy received a Gold Star Bravery Award at this year’s Royal Life Saving Bravery Awards, while Kian received a Bravery Commendation for his efforts to rescue his brother in the water.

You can read more about our Royal Life Saving Bravery Awards and nominate someone you know who's saved a life at the link below.