A man who turned up a day early for lifesaving training has rescued two people using a beer keg.
Matthew Neale arrived at Marcoola Beach early on Friday morning for a Bronze Medallion training session that was actually scheduled for Saturday.
Rather than waste his trip, Mr Neale went for a walk on the beach and noticed a father and son in distress.
He ran back to the clubhouse looking for a rescue board but, at 7am, the building was still locked up, so he instead grabbed an empty beer keg to keep them afloat.
Mr Neale sprinted back to the beach and swam out to the pair, telling them to hold on until he could bring them back to shore.
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He said the rescue was an emotional experience.
“We’re both big ocker guys but I think we realised how close it was to a very different ending,” he said.
“Once we’d got over the shock, we shared a hug and both shed a tear.”
Mr Neale has been rewarded for his efforts by the brewery that owns the keg, Heads of Noosa.
Heads of Noosa co-owners Lance and Craig Masterton heard about the story and wanted to meet the hero who used one of their empty kegs to save two lives.
“Our kegs have been used for a lot of things over the years – barstools, makeshift weights – but never a floatation device,” Lance said.
“We were absolutely stoked that one of our kegs played a part in this rescue.
“Matt is an absolute legend so we wanted to come down to Marcoola and thank him personally.
“We’re also giving him a couple of cartons of Heads of Noosa for his trouble.”
