Her words sum up the reason she and three other young Timaru people stood in front of Timaru Mayor Janie Annear this week to receive heroism awards for the February 23 rescue of two 10-year-old children struggling in waves off Caroline Bay.
Joining her in the Timaru District Council ceremony for the presentation of merit awards from Water Safety New Zealand were Shanika Bentley (13), Alisha Raimona (13) and Shannon Filipo (13). They were recognised for their part in the brave rescue of two children who had got into difficulties in the shallows at the Marine Pde end of the beach.
It was a spontaneous, but co-ordinated rescue effort that swung into action when the four, who were swimming in the bay themselves, heard distant cries for help.
Spotting bobbing heads, Shannon and Alisha both headed out to a small boy who was floundering in the now choppy conditions, while Shanika and Chontelle went to the aid of the small boy's sister, about 20m away and closer in to the shore.
But difficult and rising sea conditions prevented the rescuers and the two they were rescuing from reaching their target, the jetty, and the six youngsters were forced to strike out for nearby rocks. They took a bruising as they climbed out of the surging water on to sharp rocks. The four rescuers assisted the two children up the rocks to safety on Marine Pde.
Alisha, a pupil at Timaru South Primary School, thought the two 10-yearolds were incredibly lucky her mates were in the area. There were no adults nearby.
‘‘I am a good swimmer. I learnt from Dad,'' she said.
Chontelle, who attends Opihi College, said she was ‘‘not a great'' swimmer, but she would do the same thing again, while Shanika, who also attends Timaru South Primary School, said the water was very cold.
‘‘I was scared,'' she said.
Timaru Boys' High School pupil Shannon Filipo does not consider himself to be a good swimmer ‘‘but I dived in and helped out and I would do the same again''.
Water Safety New Zealand representative Kathy Moore was in Timaru to present the merit awards.
She considered it a privilege to recognise ‘‘the amazingly courageous act'' carried out by the four children.
‘‘The merit awards are designed to recognise outstanding contribution towards furthering the aims of Water Safety New Zealand, which means we are trying to reduce drownings,'' she said.
Mrs Moore said the awards were not given out lightly.
‘‘These awards are only given out once or twice in perhaps two or three years so this is something we take seriously and we do recognise the amount of courage and initiative that all four of you have shown.
‘‘The courage that you showed is a credit to you. Congratulations from Water Safety New Zealand and a huge thank you,'' Mrs Moore said.
Timaru Mayor Janie Annear said the four did not just show courage, they also showed common sense.
‘‘People can sometimes be kind of stupid when they are brave, but I actually thought you guys were really smart when you were brave.
‘‘You used your brains to decide who were the best swimmers and they went out to the child who was furthest away and then the other two very smartly helped the little girl who was closest to the rocks,'' Mrs Annear said.
She said Caroline Bay could look like a lovely, gentle little lady lying out there, all calm and quiet. ‘‘But very, very quickly the sea can change.
‘‘This illustrates that no matter where you are, no water is safe.
‘‘Congratulations from all of us.''
