Craig Anderson was watching his dog swim in the Murrumbidgee River on December 12, 2012 when he saw teenagers in trouble. 

A 16-year-old girl, Rose Parker, was desperately trying to save the life of a 16-year-old boy. 

“He couldn’t swim,” Mr Anderson said.

“He was doing a rough impression of a dog paddle and sticking to the edge of the water and there was upswell from the back.

“He yelled out and went straight under.” 

Ms Parker immediately went to her friend’s aid.

She was fighting the current and struggled to keep him and herself afloat.

“His body was paralysed and Rose was wrestling with him,” Mr Anderson said.

Mr Anderson ran up the stream in an attempt to meet them.

“I got down to the rocks and went in,” he said.

Mr Anderson said he was very concerned that the victim would drag Ms Parker under and he made sure he was watching her the entire time.

“She held him for 250 metres,” Mr Anderson said of Ms Parker.

Mr Anderson said the victim would not have survived if Ms Parker had let him go.

“It was peak irrigation time, around 7.30 to 8pm, the water was not clear – you could not see two metres in the water,” Mr Anderson said.

Mr Anderson was able to eventually pull the victim out of the water, while Ms Parker him was aided by other friends.

Mr Anderson hauled the boy out by the arms. He was semi-conscious and had swallowed a lot of water. 

Ms Parker, Mr Anderson and two other boys – Ben Coombs and Jarrod McDonald - carried the victim to the shore, found their mobile phones and called an ambulance. 

Afterwards Mr Anderson nominated Ms Parker for a Royal Humane Society of NSW bravery medal. Mr Coombs and Mr McDonald received letters of commendation. 

“I was rapt when she received one, and stunned and shocked when I was given one too,” he said.

Mr Anderson said Ms Parker’s act showed what people were capable of doing in dire circumstances.

“It’s just ordinary people put in extraordinary circumstances where they react to save someones life.”