Luck and the quick action of others is the reason Garry Druitt is alive today.
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The 70-year-old had a heart attack while surfing at the Flume on March 4.
He was rushed to the Royal Melbourne Hospital and underwent a bypass to clear nine blockages in his heart on March 17.
Mr Druitt said he had very few memories of that morning.
"I remember having breakfast and talking about Netflix or something to my wife Eva," he said.
Mr Druitt said he usually surfed at spots that were deserted.
"The places I go - the Cutting or Levy's Beach, there's usually no one there," he said.
"I don't usually go to the Flume but I had a few things I needed to get done that day so I decided to go somewhere closer to home."
Mr Druitt suffered a cardiac arrest while in the water and people around him quickly sprung into action.
He knows he wouldn't be here if it wasn't for the efforts of surfers, other beach goers and emergency service personnel. "I know the odds were totally against me," Mr Druitt said.
"If I had been on my own, I would have went in and never come out."
- Related content: Emergency services pull man out of Warrnambool surf
Mr Druitt said he had been told there were a large number of people who helped ensure an ambulance reached him in about 10 minutes.
He was face down in the ocean, unconscious, when firefighter Hugh Mahoney spotted him.
Mr Mahoney was joined by several other surfers who towed him to shore.
"They all towed me up the beach and did CPR," he said.
"Then they ran up the beach, getting a defibrillator and calling Triple-0."
Mr Druitt said he wouldn't be here without them.
"It just shows the community spirit that is there when we need it," he said.
Mr Druitt, who has been surfing for 60 years, is now recovering at home in Warrnambool.
"I'm looking forward to getting back in the water in six to 12 weeks," he said.
Mr Druitt said he had no warning signs prior to the heart attack.
"What I've found is that the most significant character of this type of thing is being over 45 and male," he said.
"I would encourage everyone to get a stress test every five years and get your calcium levels tested.
"I didn't do that and there could have been early warning signs."
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