Willem Powerfish responds to angry fans after filming a rescue as surfer almost drowns
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Witness is forced to defend himself after filming a distraught surfer from the beach and calling him an ‘idiot’ and ‘fucking asshole’, when he didn’t lift a finger
- Australian fisherman Willem Powerfish filmed a surf rescue
- A man’s surfboard leg rope got caught and drowned him
- Another man dove in and rescued the struggling surfer
- Commenters abused Powerfish for not helping the man
A man who filmed a surfer struggling to stay above the water had to fend off vicious commenters who called him a “jerk” for not helping.
The famous Australian fisherman Willem Powerfish shared a video of the surfer’s rescue on Tuesday.
It showed a surfer fighting the waves below a boardwalk as he struggled to free his leg rope from his surfboard, and the rope appeared to be coiled around one of the towers.
Nearly 50 seconds after the shocking video, another swimmer jumped into the water and ran over to where the surfer was trapped as Powerfish cheered him on.
Australian fisherman Willem Powerfish filmed as a struggling surfer (above) was rescued by a bystander
The brave swimmer managed to grab the surfer and push him onto his board.
The pair then swam out from under the boardwalk and made their way to shore.
They eventually made it to the arena, laughing and patting each other on the back.
However, commentators were quick to criticize Powerfish’s inaction instead of celebrating the heroic swimmer’s rescue.
“Typical Aussie attitude, sit on your ass and watch,” wrote one.
‘Then why are you still filming and don’t go and help him or find help for him, you idiot?’ another commented.
“Shame on the man on the film who said he wanted out,” said a third.
“The guy filming is a bigger jerk than the one drowning,” said another commenter.
The surfer was rescued by a heroic swimmer (together above), but many commenters criticized Powerfish for failing to rescue the man.
Powerfish responded to the cruel comments with an explanation, saying that he would have further endangered the surfer if he had attempted to rescue him.
“I’m about 100m from the beach with the zoom and also I’m 180kg and very out of shape, we both would have drowned,” he said.
“I’m trying to lose weight right now in case something like this happens again and I can help.”
His defense saw hundreds of other commentators support his decision to stay on the ground.
‘Intelligent movement knowing your abilities and not going into mate. Too many guys end up dead trying to help out in a situation beyond their ability,” one wrote.
‘Some people don’t realize how difficult it is to swim in the ocean. Add to that the fact of trying to save another person who is in trouble. Well done to the guy who jumped,” another person commented.