A surfer enjoys a cool surf at sunrise at Sydney's Manly Beach
A surfer enjoys a cool surf at sunrise at Sydney's Manly Beach February 19, 2004 as Australia experiences heatwaves from coast to coast. Soaring summer temperatures over 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Faharenheit) and tropical-like humidity have left Australians sweltering for the past week, forced zookeepers to cool down animals with blocks of ice and caused power shortages due to a big increase in the use of air-conditioners. REUTERS/Tim Wimborne

A Helensburgh father died while he tried saving his teenage stepdaughter. This incident took place at a Minnamurra beach.

The incident took place at Mystics Beach, in Killalea State Park. There was a report of a drowning incident while emergency services were called to the northern end of the beach at around 12:10 p.m. on Tuesday. Police said that a 49-year-old man was his with his family at the beach. While he was in the water, he apparently felt unwell and wanted to get back to the shore. The man collapsed on the beach and stopped breathing when he was helped from the water. According to Ambulance NSW Illawarra duty operations manager Inspector Norm Rees, bystanders and lifesavers did CPR on the man. Paramedics were quick to reach the scene but they were unsuccessful in reviving him even though extensive efforts were made.

Rees said that the man might have suffered a heart attack while trying to get back to the shore. He said that the man might have overexerted himself. ''Unfortunately he failed to respond to treatment at the scene and he was pronounced deceased at 1.45pm,'' Illawarra Mercury quotes Rees. Even though the region when the incident took place is not patrolled, crews reportedly responded to the crisis immediately. Andy Mole, lifeguard supervisor with Kiama Municipal Council, said that crews had the call come through so they dispatched a jet ski. According to the reports they got, the man may still have been in the water. Mole also advised people to swim only in patrolled beaches. He has given a gentle reminder to people that they should be swimming where the flags are.

New South Wales has suffered a number of water accidents recently. Herald Sun reports this is the fourth person to drown in NSW waters of New South Wales in the past eight days. A man drowned in the Shoalhaven River on Jan. 5 while he tried to rescue his children. The children were on inflatable mattresses when they suffered difficulties. The father saved one of the children before he died while the other was saved by a canoeist.

Contact the writer: s.mukhopadhyay@IBTimes.com.au