A final harrowing moments of a hero dad who drowned while rescuing four children from a rip have been revealed.
Authorities rushed to Carlton Beach in Tasmania’s south about 1pm on Sunday following reports a group of swimmers were struggling in the strong current.
Emergency workers and lifeguards pulled five swimmers, including four children, from the water.
Paramedics conducted CPR on a 38-year-old Brighton man but he could not be revived.
Shattered family members have since identified the man as local dad Shaun Allen, who was one of four men to die in separate water-related incidents on Sunday.
The young family members he saved survived the ordeal and didn’t require further medical assistance.
‘Unfortunately today we, the Allen Family, lost Shaun Allen to the great beyond,’ his brother posted online.
‘He paid the ultimate price while saving two children from a rip at Carlton Beach, he will be missed but never forgotten and always in our hearts.’
Police revealed that Mr Allen was briefly conscious as he was dragged from the water.
‘I understand that he was actually conscious when he was put in the boat, but unfortunately, then became unconscious and CPR commenced at that point,’ Inspector Darren Latham Latham told reporters.
‘From there, I understand paramedics then attended and continued CPR on the beach.’
‘Unfortunately, he passed away at the scene.’
It’s understood the swimmers got into trouble on an unpatrolled section of the beach well outside the red and yellow flags, Nine News reported.
The tragedy has sparked another warning to beachgoers to swim between the flags over the holiday period.
He said at Carlton Beach ‘like any beach, there can be dangerous parts’.
‘Given it’s very early in the investigation, we need to determine where the children were at the time and how they got themselves in trouble,’ Inspector Latham said.
‘Suffice to say, they found themselves in trouble, that then triggered this man to go and attempt a rescue.’
At least 31 people have drowned in since summer began on December 1- more than one per day.
Mr Allen was one of four men to die in separate water incidents on Sunday.
A 21-year-old man swimming at the popular Pine Island section of the Murumbidgee river near Canberra also drowned.
Shocked witnesses told the ABC they heard the man screaming before authorities requested she and other swimmers vacate the area.
A 55-year-old Brisbane man, 55, also died after he fell off a waterfall near Cairns in far north Queensland.
Emergency services arrived at Behana Gorge but the man could not be located, sparking a search and rescue operation.
The man’s body was discovered about an hour later.
On the Gold Coast, student Manaia Tither-Asiata, 18 also died falling 15m after reportedly using a rope swing at the Coomera River.
Mr Tither-Asiata suffered critical head, chest and pelvic injuries and couldn’t be revived.
The latest drowning follows the tragic deaths of university professor Dr Mohammad Swapan, 44, and his wife Sabrina Ahmed, 40, in Western ‘s south-west.
The Perth couple dived into the water to save their youngest daughter from a dangerous rip at Conspicuous Beach near Walpole on Saturday afternoon before they got into difficulty themselves.
A friend of the couple who was among those who tried to rescue the pair was revived at the scene and remains in hospital in a stable condition.
The couple’s youngest daughter survived the ordeal and has since returned home with her sister to stay with relatives.
The couple were respected members of the Bangladeshi community in Perth, where Dr Swapan was an associate professor at Curtin University.
In NSW, the body of teenager Luca Bennett was recovered last week after he was swept off rocks at North Avoca on the Central Coast on Christmas Eve.
The 15-year-old aspiring basketballer was one of three teenagers swept into the sea when the group was hit by a wave.
His body was recovered several days later.
Surf Life Saving chief executive Adam Weir, said volunteer surf lifesavers will be out in force this summer in a desperate bid to avoid more tragedies.
‘In order to enjoy our beaches, we want to make sure people are only swimming at patrolled beaches and make safety their top priority,’ he said.
‘The drowning risk is more than four times higher during the summer public holidays which is a result of people taking more risks, not wanting to visit the crowded patrolled beaches as well as combining alcohol/drugs with swimming. It’s a risky combination.’
Royal Lifesaving Society chief executive Justin Scarr said ns need to stay extra vigilant around water during the treacherous week until New Years Eve, where one in four annual drownings can take place.
‘Drowning happens all over the place and anywhere there’s water this time of year people are generally relaxing and enjoying themselves but it’s really important they watch their children constantly but also understand their swimming ability,’ he told ABC’s Radio National.