Samantha spoke to the Camden Haven Courier from their home in Sydney, while cooking her youngest daughter’s birthday cake on Friday. The wholesome joy of creating a cake for such an occasion now has a special resonance after the whole family needed rescuing from the Dunbogan beach.

They ‘discovered’ the Camden Haven on holiday in 2016, fell in love and, despite their harrowing recent holiday, say they will be back to enjoy the region from dry land or patrolled beaches.

“We swam at South Beach last year. It looks such a beautiful and benign beach,” Samantha said.

“We’ve been told since that it’s actually quite dangerous because the conditions change so quickly and you just can’t tell what’s going on in the water.

“My husband (Dominic) and I were on the beach and the kids were just playing in the shallows. It was a bit rough and the waves were big, so we told them not to swim, to just stay in the shallows, paddle, and not go out further than their knees.

“There was a ricocheting wave and before we knew it the girls had moved down the beach. We thought they had walked down the beach because they weren’t in deep, they were only up to their knees.

“Suddenly our oldest daughter, Charley, was waving at us and saying she wasn’t able to get out of the water. She was up to her waist and was standing but couldn’t get out. Our youngest daughter Josie was in trouble too and Charley told us to get her out first because Josie was losing her footing.

“My husband went to Josie. The undertow was really strong.

“I went to Charley and we got stuck. It was a split second; we were standing and then our feet were swept out from under us.

“I know you’re not supposed to fight against a rip, but the water was still shallow and we could stand at times, but we were swept off the ground then dumped over and over again by the waves and taken further out.”

Samantha said she and Charley were losing energy quickly fighting to get back to shore. Dominic and Josie were still in the water too.

“I thought we were all going to die and we weren’t event at the beach to swim, the kids were just playing. 

“When were were up to chest depth I looked and saw Dom holding Josie above his chest, still in the water. I thought, he can’t breathe.

“I got us (Charley and herself) back to being able to touch at waist height and told Charley to get out of the water. The last thing I saw before being swept out was that she had managed to get her footing, was at knee-height in the water and heading towards shore.

“I kept getting dumped over and over. All of a sudden I heard a very loud voice, whether it was my subconscious or God I don’t know, but the voice said – stop fighting and swim out past the breakers.

“I managed to get through and I thought I was going to be ok, but the next set came through with more breakers.

“I don’t have a lot of confidence in the ocean. I’m a strong swimmer in a pool. Dom is experienced in the ocean and I always relied on him. I held his hand when we went to the beach. He could see the conditions were bad that day and told the girls to paddle in a particular spot in front of us in the shallows but not in another spot and explained that it was too rough in that spot.

“But it changed so quickly.

“After swimming out further, I didn’t know if the others had made it to shore or if I was going to survive. I am a strong swimmer and I tried to stay calm.

“The ambulance officers said I had been in the water for about an hour and a half. I was being sucked up and down the beach, towards the rocks then back down the beach again.

“I tried to stay as horizontal as possible in the rip because the undertow below was so strong.

“At this point I summoned up the courage to look towards shore, to see if I could see anyone.

“The week before, Josie had taught me the egg-beater kick the girls had learned at water polo. I think being strong from water polo helped them in this situation be strong enough to endure the situation. I’m amazed by how calm they were.

“I turned to shore, doing the egg-beater kick. The beach had been deserted when we got there. I wanted to see if anyone was there. I saw about 40 people, they couldn’t see me waving. After a few waves went through I could see them and waved again. This time about ten of them waved back and I knew I had been seen.

“By the time Dom had gotten near the shore, about ten people were coming onto the beach and Charley called them to help her dad and her sister. One of them called Triple Zero. They helped Dom and the girls. Dom was coughing up water.

“I couldn’t hear the rescue boat. The water was so noisy. When the rescue boat came I told myself to wait until I got into the boat to ‘lose it’.

“But it all happened to quickly, the rescue, I’ve never seen anyone so strong, Tony and Phil got me out of the water so quickly and then the waves were on us. They were so high.”

Lifesaver Tony Worton, who was the crew member in the Camden Haven Surf Club IRB with driver Phil Traves, said he had never seen conditions like it.

“Where she was, it was like an eddy of swirling water and she couldn’t get out of it. The waves were so big and it was hard to see her in the water,” Tony said after the rescue.

“We had to pick her up out of the water quickly between the waves. Phil and I both pulled her into the boat, then Phil hit the throttle and we climbed almost vertical up a wave then shot for the shore where the paramedics were waiting.”

Samantha had taken on water and was hospitalised for 24 hours at Port Base.

Incredibly, Samantha, Dominic, Josephine and Charley went swimming the next day, to regain some ocean confidence, at the protected Pilot Beach.

“It was just a quick swim. We just put our heads under the water, that was enough,” Samantha said.

“We will be back to the area again, but next time we will swim at the patrolled beach at North Haven or at Pilot Beach.”

Going through a myriad of emotions while in hospital, Samantha said a doctor offered advice to pull though the situation with strength.

“A doctor told me to cry once about it, then turn it around into something positive, to write about it or go and tell others about only going in the water at patrolled beaches.

“So I wrote to my family to tell them what happened and what I learned from it; that I managed to be out there for an hour and a half, terrified, and survived. I felt something brush against my leg and I managed to convince myself it wasn’t a shark.

“I told them about the generosity I’ve experience from other human beings, like Tony and Phil who risked their lives and from the people on the beach who saw me and helped our family.

“It also taught me that I really will do anything for my kids. I will risk my life for them. People say that you would put your life on the line to save your kids and I really did. That was quite affirming.”

Samantha remains in touch with her rescuers and will be making a financial donation to the surf club.