Girls aged 10 and 11 ‘exhausted and very lucky to escape serious injury’ after dramatic rescue

Grace Baldwin

December 27, 2022 - 11:13AM

Herald Sun | Two children saved in dramatic St Kilda rescue

Two young girls are lucky to be alive after the quick reaction of police officers on horseback who raced to their rescue off St Kilda Pier.

Quick action from police officers saved two young sisters from drowning in St Kilda.

The 10-year-old and 11-year-old girl were spotted struggling in waters off St Kilda Pier about 7.40pm on Monday.

Two mounted police rode to the foreshore and stripped off their police equipment to enter the water.

The acting sergeant and leading senior constable handed the reins of their horses to members of the public to hold, diving into the water to save the girls.

Once reaching the two distressed children, one officer was able to make it back to shore with relative ease – but the second officer had more of a struggle.

In choppy and challenging conditions, the officer had to fully submerge herself and push off the bay floor to try and bring the girl back to the surface and out of an undertow.

The entire rescue was conducted in rough water with a strong current attempting to pull them into the construction zone along St Kilda Pier.

Police said the pair were “exhausted and very lucky to escape serious injury”, with one girl finally making it out of the water to the nearby rocks and the other being helped back to the shore by a member of the public.

After receiving the all-clear from paramedics, the children were left with their mother.