Media release

20 October 2017

Two men who attempted to save a surfer during a shark attack at Ballina in 2015 were today recognised for their bravery by the Royal Humane Society of NSW.

Dr Hugh Giles and Mathew Meadows were among 43 people to be honoured by the Society’s Patron, the Governor of NSW, His Excellency, General The Honourable David Hurley, AC DSC (Ret’d) at Government House.

The awards recognise people who put their lives at risk to save someone in immediate danger.

Other recipients included:

• Constable Mathew Steele who rescued a woman after she fell approximately 60 metres at the Gap in Watsons Bay;
• Edward Ivanoff who saved a woman’s life following a violent domestic incident
• Joel Trist who rescued a surfer from a shark attack at Kiama in 2016.