By Dennis Amor

POLICE are being hailed as heroes after rescuing a caravan park's assistant manager from under a ride-on mower which had flipped into a river.

Sean MacFarlane was mowing at the 126-site River Breeze Tourist Park on the NSW South Coast when his machine slipped down the riverbank and overturned, pinning him against rocks in the Moruya River.

River Breeze Tourist Park: mower mishap

He lay partly submerged for almost half an hour before a passing woman heard his frantic cries for help and alerted police.

"They searched but couldn't see him at first," wife Kirsten told Caravanning News. "But luckily Sean was able to free an arm and wave his hat to attract attention."

Mr MacFarlane was rushed to Moruya Hospital with severe bruising but released after x-rays and treatment.

Two police officers involved in the dramatic rescue also received hospital treatment for oyster cuts and an injured shoulder.

"It was very scary and Sean was very, very lucky to survive," Kirsten said. "His face was below the waterline but fortunately the water level was down otherwise he would have drowned. He was a bit sore after the accident and had to take a few days off. But he's fine now."

The MacFarlanes had only been at the four-star Top Tourist park for several weeks after moving from central Queensland where they managed a caravan park in Blackwater.

"What a baptism," joked Kirsten. "But at least everything turned out ok, thanks to the good Samaritan police officers. Luckily there was some kind of police training exercise taking place when the accident happened so lots of officers turned up to rescue Sean. Thanks goodness they did otherwise my husband could have died."

Kirsten has already sent flowers to her heroes, and Sean was delivering a slab of beer!

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