New details emerge about Sylvania jet ski crash as ‘hero’ first responders are praised for their bravery

The heroic first responders who rushed into a river to rescue the teenage victim of a horror late-night jet ski crash have been praised for their bravery.

Mitchell Irvine, 15, and his friend, Noah, 14, were riding a jet ski in the Georges River when they crashed near Tom Uglys bridge at Sylvania, in Sydney’s south, just after 6pm on Tuesday.

Two girls on the shoreline saw the jet ski wreckage in the water and heard Noah calling out for help and contacted emergency services.

Constable Jesse Hockey and paramedic Scott McNamara arrived at the scene and quickly ran into the water to save Noah.

After swimming some 60 metres to reach him, they brought the teenager back to shore before he was raced to Sydney’s Children’s Hospital in a critical condition with a severed arm.

Mitchell was later found dead in the water and was unable to be revived.

Superintendent Don Faulds said it was an “absolutely amazing effort” by the police officers and paramedics who responded to the “tragic, unexpected incident”.

“Both officers here (Hockey and McNamara) jumped into the water at night (in) very murky conditions, very scary (conditions),” Faulds told reporters on Wednesday.

“There was a lot of fuel in the water as well and (it was) unknown what else could have been in the water at the time.

“They raced out, secured the young person, (and) brought them safely back to the shore.

“From my perspective, (that is a) very, very brave effort.”

Faulds said the boys were riding on a jet ski owned by one of the families and that both teenagers were wearing lifebelts.

7News.com.au understands the jet ski was owned by the Watkins family and that Noah had a licence to operate it.

Faulds said police believe the boys hit an object in the water while riding in the dark, while he believes the use of life jackets kept Noah alive and afloat.

As of Tuesday, Noah is now in a stable condition in hospital.

“We don’t know what (they) collided with at this stage. There’s ongoing inquiries,” Faulds said.

“The Marine Area Command are looking at all different areas of the investigation, whether it was something to do with the bridge, something that was maybe submerged, or another item nearby.

“That will obviously form part of that investigation, and obviously the coroner’s report.”

Hockey said he first became aware of the emergency after it was broadcasted over the police radio.

He said it was “instinct” that drove him to strip down and immediately dive into the water.

“We saw (me and McNamara) what we thought was a person maybe floating and then there was police that went on top of the bridge. They shined a light down and we heard him calling out for help,” he said.

“So it was sort of just instinctive, (we) just got in the water, got it done.”

Hopkins said the water was “cold, murky, (and) dark”, and it “took a bit” to get his breath back as they swam to where the officers above were shining their light and grabbed Noah in the water.

“He (had been) calling out for help, and then we sort of got to him, tried to raise him, and he was sort of non-responsive,” he said.

“We tried to chat to him when we were swimming back in and didn’t get too much out of him. And then (we) just passed him over to the other ambulance that were waiting.”

McNamara said the emergency escalated while he was on the way as he received reports Noah had gone from treading water to being face down in the river.

He said the distance required to reach Noah increased soon after they jumped in the water because the teenager began floating away from them.

“It was probably 60 metres that we had to swim to catch up to the victim,” he said.

“He was semi-conscious and had an obvious traumatic amputation to his right arm with no active bleeding.

“The plan was we’d arrest that bleeding if it was required. However, he wasn’t.

“So we conducted a rescue as quickly as possible.

“His condition deteriorated on the way in ... (so) we just got him to shore as quickly as we could.”

McNamara said the rescue was a “great outcome”.

“(It’s an) absolute tragedy. My condolences to the family of the deceased,” he said.

“But to have saved that young boy, that’s why we did this job.

“It felt good to go home last night.

“I’ve got young kids as well.”

The new details come as devastated friends flock online to share tributes and well wishes for Mitchell and Noah.

One friend described Mitchell as the “purest boy you could ever meet”, who had “many great friendships” with his mates.

“Rest up lad, I’m going to miss you,” another boy wrote.

“Praying for you too Noah. Love you lad.”

“LLM (long live Mitch),” a third post read.

“You will never be forgotten.”

Investigations into the crash continue.