Nambucca Marine Rescue Unit Commander Graham Horne awarded National Service Medal

The Governor-General-approved award recognises "long and diligent service by members of recognised government and voluntary organisations that risk their lives or safety to protect or assist the community in enforcement of the law or in times of emergency or natural disaster".

A term of long service is deemed to be 15 years, so for Graham, who's now served in the Marine Rescue for 21 years, the recognition is long overdue.

Still, Graham said he was surprised to receive the medal and felt 'privileged'.

A lot has changed for the unit since Graham first signed up, about 12 months after Mr Ward launched the first rubber ducky into the waves.

Back then you didn't need certification, and the boat was hoisted onto a trailer from where it was housed in Gus Monro's shed at the industrial estate.

After a scuffle for space, the volunteers then took out the lease on one of the old shacks along Riverside Drive.

The current Marine Rescue service was established in July 2009 and officially took to the water on New Year's Day in 2010.

In May 2011 Melinda Pavey officially opened the current headquarters, where it now houses a dedicated boat, two jetskis, and a desk which can control the ocean bar camera.

That was a proud day for Graham and the squad.

Over the past two decades he's seen his fair share of tragedies, and put his life on the line time and time again.

He'll never forget when disaster found him in 2013 as he and two other crewmen cruised out to rescue a bloke whose boat had capsized on the bar.

"A massive wave came up and I thought 'oof this is going to end badly'," he said.

The rescue boat rolled and an unconscious Graham and another volunteer were trapped underneath.

The next thing Graham recalls is waking up in the back of an ambulance, and hearing that the unit's $400,000 rescue vessel had been totalled.

But there are also shining moments of heroism that are burned into his memory.

In March 2003, two Eungai boys - aged 12 and 17 - were trying to swim across the channel to South Beach when they were taken by a rip and washed out a mile off shore.

Two of the unit's finest responded to the call and searched until dark, finally picking up the second boy just as he was going out with the tide.

"That was a good result and it made us proud," Graham said.

They were deservedly recognised with bravery awards.

But, much to Graham's bemusement, the biggest applause the unit received was when they rescued a kangaroo from the waves of the sandbar in October 2017.

"We got more publicity from saving that damn kangaroo than anything else," he said.

"He must have been chased out by a dog near Swimming Creek. By the time we found him he was exhausted and had given up.

"We put a big blanket around him and brought him all the way back in. And he made a full recovery."

Skippy's not the only critter that Graham and his team have been called upon to save; He still bears the scars from a chance encounter with a drowning goanna.

And the unit saves a pelican every other week from spent fishing line.

After three terms as unit commander, Graham said he's coming to the end of his marine rescue service.

When he does hang up his hat, he will be sorely missed. The Valley owes him a big debt of gratitude.

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