Surfing legend Mick Fanning has surprised residents on the NSW North Coast with a selfless act amid the ongoing flood disaster.
When he’s not fighting off sharks or helping small businesses, the well established “top bloke” apparently throws on the wetsuit and helps out in disaster zones.
On Tuesday, pharmacist Skye Swift put a call out on social media for a ride from Tweed to Murwillumbah to make sure residents could access essential medication, The Age reported.
To her surprise, none other than the three-time world surfing champion rocked up on a jet ski offering to give her a ride.
As well as winning praise on social media, Mr Fanning was able to bring smiles to the faces of residents doing it tough.
The 40-year-old lives on the Gold Coast and since retiring from professional surfing, has become actively involved in the community and local culinary scene.
Fellow surf star and 2012 world champ Joel Parkinson was also spotted lending a hand, ferrying stranded residents alongside Mr Fanning on Monday and Tuesday.
He said along with other volunteers, the pair had managed to help dozens of people and plenty of pets, too, describing it as “one big community effort”.
“We went to one farmhouse that I thought was one-storey – the water was so high. But it was actually two storeys and I was jet skiing over their cars to get to them,” Mr Parkinson told The Courier Mail.
“We yelled out ‘is anyone home?’ and this four-year-old kid in a life jacket answered the door. We grabbed him, his mum and the dog and got them out of there. Another guy was up in a treehouse with all his supplies.”
In a cruel twist of fate, Mr Parkinson returned home on Monday to find his garage open and his wife’s car stolen.
“All day I’d been helping people who were close to losing their lives and their houses and I came home to that,” he said.
“There were so many people out there trying to do good, but some people just want to do bad.”