Two men who almost died saving four children at a beach on Auckland's North Shore are urging parents to watch their children every second they're in the water.
The two brothers-in-law say the parents weren't aware their children were in difficulty at Murrays Bay.
Jacob Laban was at the beach when he spotted four children on two floaties far from the shore and heard one of them screaming.
"They were just all scared, panicking - they didn't know what to do."
Laban told Newshub he couldn't rescue all four children at once, coming down to a choice no one wants to make.
"Scared, like I didn't really know who to choose, because the youngest one there was more calm than the one who was screaming."
Luckily Laban's brother-in-law Joe Lasini swam to help.
"When I went over there to grab the closest one to me, that's when I realised the ground just disappeared beneath my feet," he says.
Both Lasini and Laban say they're strong swimmers, but it became difficult when rescuing the last child.
"We were just starting to get tired and exhausted and we could see the land wasn't getting any closer but then we were lucky - Jake just started to put his foot down," Lasini told Newshub.
"I was exhausted, I came out my body was all numb, stiff and I couldn't really walk back out and my brother-in-law was vomiting out water," Laban said.
"We just looked at each other. We couldn't really speak to each other, we just gave each other a fist pump," Lasini added.
The local boat club told Newshub there are plenty of incidents when the breeze turns offshore and carries inflatables further out to sea.
Both Laban and Lasini recovered on January 3. Laban's mother had a firm word with the parents of the children who didn't know what had happened.
Both the men share a simple message to parents when at the beach with their children.
"To watch their young ones, because you can't rely on another kid to look after another kid," Laban said.
"Keep an eye on all kids, not just your kids, all kids," Lasini added.
