An RNLI lifeguard from north Devon is part of a team of eight professional and volunteer lifeguards who have been awarded Surf Life Saving New Zealand’s Rescue of the Month for a coordinated rescue off Pauanui beach in the North Island’s Bay of Plenty.

Each month throughout the season, the nine districts in New Zealand recognise the best local rescue and enters it into the Surf Life Saving New Zealand Rescue of the Month award. There are six awards each season and the winners will become finalists for the BP Surf Rescue of the Year presented in September.

Senior RNLI lifeguard Luke Yabsley (23), who is originally from Newton Abbott, patrols Woolacombe beach in north Devon during the UK summer. This winter, he worked in New Zealand’s North Island as part of the RNLI’s International Lifeguard Exchange Programme.

Read the full details of the dramatic rescue here and watch videos of the RNLI in action during sea rescues here