Trouble in Paradise

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A witness to the dangers lurking at our idyllic Bilgola Beach Rockpool.

Allan Baillie, Photograph Braden Fastier, Manly Daily

Author sucked out through drain pipe at Bilgola pool

MANLY DAILY LOCAL NEWS   10 NOV 10 @ 04:18PM BY JOHN MORCOMBE

Alan Bailey of Clareville shows his injuries after being sucked through the drain at the Bilgola Rock Pool on Monday. 

AWARD-WINNING author Allan Baillie thought he was going to die when he was sucked through the outlet pipe of 

Bilgola rock pool.

A moment later he had been spat out of the pipe, dumped on the sand and his brain was coming to grips with the 

fact he was breathing.

He was badly cut, bruised and would soon slip into mild shock but all that mattered was that he was still alive.

Now the Clareville resident can laugh about his near-death experience and the wisecracks that are starting to come 

his way - about becoming unplugged, of going down the drain and being used as a human pipe-cleaner.

Mr Baillie, 67, and his wife Agnes were swimming in the Bilgola rock pool about 4pm on Monday when council 

workers opened the valve to drain the pool so they could clean it.

The first Mr Baillie knew of the workers’ presence was when one started gesturing to him.

Not knowing what the man meant, Mr Baillie swam closer, only to be sucked underwater and through the outlet 

pipe.

Mr Baillie sustained cuts and bruises to his right shoulder, his back, both arms, both knees and his right foot from 

the jagged shells he was scraped against as he was dragged through the pipe.

“The pull from the pipe was incredibly strong,” he said.

“I was sucked down feet first.

“For one moment I thought I was going to die, then I was spat out the other side.

“I was happy about that because I knew I was alive.”

Two Pittwater lifeguards rushed to Mr Baillie’s aid.

“They were really nice and very efficient,” he said. “Then I slid into mild shock - it’s the first time I’ve ever had that 

feeling - and I just wanted to lie down.

“All the colours I could see started to fade, like they were bleached.”

Mr Baillie has won numerous awards for his children’s books, including the 2010 NSW Premier’s Literary Awards 

Patricia Wrightson Prize for Children’s Literature for Krakatoa Lighthouse.

Here's my imaginary version of the events based on my old photos of Bilgola 

Beach Rockpool:

“All the colours I could see started to fade, like they were bleached.”