Lynne Mowbray

When 17-year-old lifeguard Lillian Young was alerted to a kangaroo struggling in the surf, she jumped into action.

Lillian who has just completed her training as a professional lifeguard for the Australian Lifeguard Service, said that she had just begun her first season of lifeguard duty at Iluka’s Bluff Beach, when the incident unfolded.

“It was New Year’s Eve morning and my offsider Carissa said that she had seen a kangaroo jump into the water off the rocks, and I thought that she was joking,” Lillian said.

“Then I had people on the beach running up to me saying that a kangaroo had jumped off the rocks.

“So, I grabbed my rescue board and went out to rescue it and guide it in.

“I’d never seen anything like that before.

“There were about 40 people on the beach at the time, so my work mate Carissa had to scoot them out of the way to give the kangaroo some space when it came into the beach, so that it didn’t get spooked.

“When the kangaroo left the water and hopped up the beach, the people were all clapping and cheering.

“The kangaroo stood up the back of the beach for a bit, just looking down at me, before jumping off into the bush,” Lillian said.

Lillian who lives on the Gold Coast, said that she was back home for the holidays, staying with her family at Woombah.

“I’m doing a surfing program up on the Gold Coast as I’m training to be a professional surfer,” she said.

No doubt Lillian will have a story and a half to share with her friends, when she returns to the Gold Coast.

“It was just so bizarre, as it was my first ever rescue – and it was a kangaroo and not a human,” she said laughing.