
On Christmas Eve 2019 and after completing one of the dive programmes, Rob Hewitt headed out to gather kaimoana with a few of the other divers. What unfolded was in slow motion to him as one of the divers, Todd Russell, got caught in a rip and was unable to get back to the boat. As Rob found himself suddenly on the other side of a rescue not dissimilar from his own, both him and Todd needed to put all of their training into practice in order to survive.