As he leaned over a kangaroo he just rescued from drowning at Bawley Point's Gannet Beach, Brendan Riddick willed it to live.
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He had just pulled the kangaroo out of surf, by its tail, and watched and just hoped that the animal would recover.
Bit by bit, the kangaroo got stronger and gradually got rid of all the salt water it had swallowed from its system.
Brendan describes how the kangaroo was frothing at the mouth, which he took as a good sign and part of the recovery.
Some 10 minutes later, the signs of recovery started to increase.
The kangaroo first lifted its head and then minutes later got up and bounced away.
The rescue took place yesterday [Monday, January 15] and a WIRES volunteer, who Brendan knows, also came down to the beach to assist.
The WIRES volunteer later spotted the kangaroo in the nearby bush.
"It looks like the kangaroo will make a full recovery," Brendan said
Brendan was coming back from a surf at Gannet Beach when he spotted a kangaroo in the water.
He knew the kangaroo was in trouble and he had to do something to help.
"I know the spot well, it was being taken in a rip and the waves were big at the time," he said.
The former Ulladulla High School teacher was not about to just walk away and let the kangaroo die - so he acted.
"I definitely feel like I did something good - 100 percent," he said about saving the kangaroo.
Brendan, who now is a lecturer in history and politics at Wollongong University, also has an allergy to animals - particularly to dogs and horses.
He felt a "little twitch" following the incident but nothing too serious.
The rescue, unbeknown to Brendan, was filmed by Natalie Cannon.
The vision is on the Bawley Point & Kioloa Notice Board Facebook page and Brendan said in general he received lots of positive feedback.
He was even told the Sydney media picked up and ran with the vision.
