Mrs Ta’avale was back in the water at Lakeside Leisure Centre eight months after she suffered a medical episode while swimming.

For husband Iosefa Ta’avale, who helped lifeguards pull his unconscious wife from the water and watched as they revived her, returning the Raymond Terrace pool was harder.

It was only on Friday that Mr Ta’avale returned to the centre to thank the people who saved his wife, and who continue to keep a watchful eye on her when swimming her laps.

During a morning tea on December 22 the Raymond Terrace couple and their son Isaac, 13, met Belgravia lifeguard Christian Shilling, one of the first responders to the incident, and now retired NSW Ambulance paramedic Charles Donaldson who helped to transport Mrs Ta’avle to hospital.

“It’s really lovely to be able to thank them, to show my appreciation for what they they did for me and my family,” Mrs Ta’avale said. 

“I thank God, my family, these people, the entire team who looked after me in hospital and who continue to care for me for being here today.”

It was in December 2015 that Mrs Ta’avale visited the centre for her usual morning swim.

Somewhere within her usual 20 laps she began to have trouble breathing.

She made it to the side of the pool and signalled for help.

Upon the lifeguard arriving Mrs Ta’avale stopped breathing. Her heart also stopped beating, caused by Brugada syndrome – a condition she did not know she had.

Mr Shilling had only been a lifeguard at the pool for one month before his training was put to the test.

“It was literally straight into the deep end,” Mr Shilling said.

He, along with fellow lifeguards Grace King and Marley Anthony (who now no longer work at the pool), were the lifeguards on duty.

With help from Mr Ta’avale, the trio of lifeguards pulled an unconscious Mrs Ta’avale from the pool and began CPR.

When the four paramedics arrived, Mrs Ta’avale was breathing again.

Mr Donaldson, part of the paramedic team who arrived to help, said it was great to see Mrs Ta’avale doing so well.

“It’s not something you see very often from someone who went into cardiac arrest,” he said.

“It was the lifeguards who truly saved her. Everyone needs to learn CPR. It will save lives.”

Recovery has been a long road for Mrs Ta’avale. She spent three months in hospital following the incident due to medical complications. She also underwent many surgeries.

As part of her rehabilitation, Mrs Ta’avale began aquatherapy.

“A lot of people warned me that I may have flashbacks or a panic attack,” she said. “But I had none of that. Nothing like that has ever happened. I have no memory of what happened so I have never been afraid.

“I firmly believe that water has healing powers. I couldn’t wait to get back in the water.

“The firs time I stepped into the water at the hospital I cried. But they were tears of joy.”

Just five months after leaving hospital, Mrs Ta’avale was back at Lakeside Leisure Centre swimming.

Troy Hughes, assistant manager of the centre, said he was “massively proud” of how his team responded.

Mr Hughes had only left the centre an hour before the incident. It was an especially difficult call for him to take and learn of the incident as Mrs Ta’avale is a friend.

“I’ve been a lifeguard for 20 years and I have never had anything like this before,” he said. “To have a positive outcome is even better.”

In 2016 Lakeside Leisure Centre achieved the highest Royal Life Saving rating score across all Belgravia Leisure sites in NSW.

The 2017 results were even better with the centre improving its rating by 1 per cent to achieve a 95 per cent rating.

Mr and Mrs Ta’avale presented a cheque to Mr Hughes at the morning tea as a way to say thanks and to show their appreciation of the centre’s staff.

Also in attendance to the Friday morning tea was the area and state managers from Belgravia, the group that operates pools in Port Stephens, and representatives from Port Stephens Council.