Now a more clear picture begins to emerge, based on the Australian reports and this interview with the chief lifeguard in BT:
Nye detaljer om dramaet i Australien: Sådan blev prins Christian reddet - Royale | www.bt.dk
Full translation:
It was a dangerous current - a socalled horse-hole (*) which Thursday caught ten year old Prince Christian during a bathing trip on the CP-couple Christmas holiday in Australia.
That's why it was necessary to launch a rescue mission in order to get the Danish heir safe back on land at Mermaid Beach on Australias famous Gold Coast.
That is confirmed by the head of lifeguards on the beach Warren Young to BT.
"We have one priority above everything else. And that's to say human lives", says Warren Young on the phone from Australia. He is the head of the team of lifeguards, who prevented the CP-couple's Christmas holiday from having a fatal ending.
Warren Young says that Prince Christian prior to the incident did the right thing and swam between the flags which mark the area under surveillance by the lifeguards on Mermaid Beach.
"His dad (Frederik) was watching him" says Warren Young.
The situation was changed within a few seconds. Because the young heir to the Danish throne was suddenly caught in a powerful outward moving, local and temporary current, a so-called horse-hole.
Warren Young tells BT that Prince Christian was swept away from the shore towards deeper water. The current was so strong that it would have been futile for the 10 year old Prince to swim back towards shore.
The 25 year old lifeguard Nick Malcolm knew that, he quickly jumped on a surfboard and paddled out to the Prince who was in trouble.
Warren Young says that Prince Christian reacted swiftly at the sight of Nick Malcolm and got himself up on the surfboard. Then the lifeguard could safely push him ashore.
"I'm glad he turned out to be a strong swimmer, so that he could stay afloat. The lifeguard rush up onto the board and reached him. He (Christian) wasn't swept more than ten meters away, after the current caught him", says Warren Young to BT and adds: "He was fine and his parents personally thanked the lifeguard afterwards".
Warren Young and his team of lifeguards at Mermaid Beach have ensured the safety of bathers for 42 years. But they have never tried rescuing an heir to a throne before and it was also only some time after the incident that it dawned on the team of lifeguards who it was they had saved.
"The lifeguards had o idea who it was. We just want to look after all on the beach. Especially the children. He (Christian) was not panicking at any stage", says Warren Young.
"But I can of course understand it attracts attention. But we were just doing our job. They (M&F) were just relaxing on the beach and kept an eye on their children. They did nothing to attract attention", says Warren Young to BT.
(*) Horse-holes are holes dug in the sand by the current and depending on the direction of the current a small person like a child can be swept out to sea, because the current is stronger over such a hole.
But they can also be dangerous to adults, especially poor swimmers. Because if you walk into such a hole, you lose your footing and you can be swept out to sea while swallowing half the North Sea. Or worse, you can be dragged down long enough for you to panic and drown.
Horse-holes rarely stay in the same place. The next week the hole may have been filled again and the current may have dug a new hole somewhere else.
While you can often spot horse holes from land (the sea has a different shade of blue) you can see it while swimming.
- So to me this picture begins to emerge:
Christian is swimming merrily along. Keeping between the flags as he is told. Dad adheres to one of the five cardinal rules and keeps an eye on him. The weather is great and the water deliciously warm, there are lifeguards around and he is not alone, (another of the cardinal rules), so what's to worry about?
Whoops, there's a current here. No big deal, he's a good swimmer. (A third cardinal rule). Oh, there is Nick, the lifeguard, asking if he's okay and would he like a ride back to shore on the board? Yeah, cool!
Back on shore Nick tells daddy: No big deal, just checking if the boy was OK. Thanks mate. And that's it. Nick's done his job without scaring the tourists. These things happen.
Only does he later realize
who it was he was dealing with. And to Nick's big credit: he's a modest man who hasn't made a show out of this.
Later Lene Balleby calls M&F, because there is a story on the new about Christian being rescued by lifeguard. M&F (my guess is Frederik it's his style) responds: No big deal. Just checking if he was OK. Yeah, sure they (the protection detail) knew we were there.
Does that sound plausible to you?
Because there is no way in this world it would make sense to downplay the incident and basically saying the lifeguards were exaggerating. The PR office is not that unprofessional.
- Apart from that, this is a
great story!
It put focus on the lifeguards and it shows you have very competent lifeguards looking after the tourists at the beaches in Australia. So feel safe here.
Lene Balleby is sitting in Copenhagen. She is telling the press what she has been told and understood.
