Northern Rivers Marine Rescue pair named RESCA finalists

Brunswick Unit Commander Jonathan Wilcock © Marine Rescue NSW

Phillip Causley © Marine Rescue NSW

Two Marine Rescue NSW volunteers from the Northern Rivers have been named finalists in the Marine Rescue agency category for the 2023 Rotary Districts of NSW Emergency Services Community Awards (RESCA).

Brunswick Unit Commander Jonathan Wilcock and long-serving Ballina volunteer Phillip Causley join Marine Rescue Jervis Bay's Leona Curran and Marine Rescue Merimbula's Edwin Dietrich as finalists for this year's agency award.

Marine Rescue NSW Commissioner Alex Barrell said the Northern Rivers pair are deserving finalists.

"Jonathan and Phillip's dedication to Marine Rescue, their community and the Northern Rivers region having assisted with last year's flood response makes them worthy finalists and Marine Rescue NSW is extremely thankful for their ongoing commitment to the service.

"Phillip and Jonathan are outstanding volunteers and to have both of them amongst our ranks is a real asset for Marine Rescue NSW but more importantly boaters on the Northern Rivers," Commissioner Barrell said.

The winner of the Marine Rescue NSW agency award will be announced at the RESCA ceremony at Bankstown Sports Club on August 12.

About Jonathan Wilcock - Marine Rescue Brunswick

Starting as a sailor in Victoria at the age of seven, Jonathan Wilcock became involved in competitive sailing and supporting boat operators as a child.

In his late teens he joined the SES to help with rescues in road accidents, swift water emergencies and floods.

After moving to the NSW Northern Rivers, he joined Marine Rescue Brunswick in 2017 and became Unit Commander in July 2019.

During the 2022 Northern Rivers flooding event Mr Wilcock worked alongside the NSW SES, NSW Police and Surf Lifesaving volunteers assisting with rescues and at one point extracting a severely ill person trapped in a flooded house. With neither an ambulance or helicopter able to access the area, he borrowed a vehicle with a snorkel fitted, allowing it go into deeper water, and got the patient out.

Mr Wilcock worked closely with the Mullumbimby SES, assisting people affected by flooding in the Mullumbimby and Upper Brunswick Valleys, delivering fuel, food and other necessities.

He also assisted in the Emergency Operations Centre and when the waters receded was active in the clean-up.

About Phillip Causley - Marine Rescue Ballina

There was little doubt Phillip Causley would end up in a helping profession. From his last years in high school he was out helping, first with Kidz Kamp for the St Vincent de Paul Society, then the NSW SES, followed by service with the Westpac Helicopter and the Ballina Hospital Auxiliary.

In 2011, Mr Causley joined Marine Rescue Ballina and has held the positions of Crew, Leading Crew, Coxswain and Deputy Unit Commander.

His skills were put the to the test in June 2020 when a vessel sank off Patch's Beach in South Ballina in the early hours of the morning. Mr Causley went out with crew, battling a treacherous bar and ferocious seas to rescue two people in the water.

During the 2022 floods, Mr Causley spent three days in Lismore rescuing flood victims. Notwithstanding his own home in Ballina being flooded, he assisted others for the next five days.

When floods hit the far west last November, he went to Walgett to assist with evacuations, helping small indigenous settlements and restocking supplies. He then went on to assist at Condobolin repairing and stabilising flood levies.

Marine Rescue NSW is a volunteer based not-for-profit professional organisation dedicated to keeping boaters safe on the water and supporting local communities.