Three boys have been hailed as heroes for saving a man from drowning at the Tumbarumba pool.
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The man owes his life to the sharp eyes of Wagga Christian College student Aaron Tuilau, who spotted him lying at the bottom of the pool.
The then 11-year-old called out to his "good mate" Edward Smith, and together the two of them managed to pull him to the surface.
"I grabbed his head, Aaron grabbed his legs, and we brought him to the top. His head was flopping everywhere," Edward said.
Edward's older brother Arthur saw the commotion and helped the two younger boys haul the man out of the pool.
By this point the man had been underwater for a full minute, but after some CPR he managed to splutter back to life.
"There was froth going everywhere, it was going all over my arm," Arthur said.
"He spewed all over me. It was gross."
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Arthur said saving a man's life "wasn't really a big thing", and that they promptly forgot about the whole incident.
The boys were given a bag of lollies and an ice cream at the swimming pool canteen for their life-saving efforts.
Aaron visited the man at Wagga Base Hospital with his mum Lottie Tuilau, who said she was "very, very proud" of her boy.
"He was still traumatised by the whole thing, he never mentioned anything about it even a week after the incident," Mrs Tuilau said.
"The very next day we went to visit him. He was up all night thinking about the person, concerned about whether the person was alive."
The man was a fruit picker who had come to use the showers, but ended up fainting and falling into the pool.
He was unable to swim, and would have almost certainly drowned had it not been for the quick-thinking of the three boys.
They were named the 2021 young citizens of the year award at the Tumbarumba Australia Day celebrations for their heroism.
Snowy Valleys Council mayor James Hayes said those boys had shown "incredible" courage in saving the man from drowning.
"Those boys were terrific in what they did - they saved his life," Councillor Hayes said.
"Right after it happened we were planning on doing something for them, but then we had fires, then COVID hit, it went on and on and on.
"It's really good that they're recognised after all this time."
Looking back, Edward said they had just been lucky to have been in the right place at the right time.
"Me and Aaron were having a wrestle and I pushed him off the jumping castle. That's how he noticed it," he said.
"If I hadn't pushed him off, he probably would have carked it."
The man has since made a full recovery.