An experienced lifeguard has warned of the dangers of going too far onto Nobbys breakwall in conditions like those that produced huge surf this week and knocked a man over the edge, onto rocks.
Emergency crews were called to the popular walking path just before 2.30pm on Monday after a wave had pushed a man off the wall.
Fire and Rescue NSW firefighters retrieved the man and he was taken to John Hunter Hospital in a stable condition with a suspected serious back injury. The man is believed to be a visitor from Brisbane aged in his 60s.
City of Newcastle Beach Inspector Mick Body - who, along with one of his fellow lifeguards, was among the first responders to arrive at the scene - said on Tuesday the man was fortunate not to have ended up in a worse condition.
"I think he's lucky - he's very, very lucky. It could have gone a really bad way," he said.
Mr Body, a lifeguard with almost two decades of experience working on Newcastle's beaches, said it was important that people avoided putting themselves in danger on the wall during periods of hazardous conditions.
"You've just got to be mindful. With these groundswells, we have big lulls between the sets and everyone thinks it's safe to go out there," he said.
"Just look at what everyone else is doing. [Monday], you would have noticed there was no-one else out the back of the breakwall.
"You could see the concrete on the breakwall was all wet and there's a reason for that - it's because the waves were breaking over. Always take your time, watch what the surf is doing and never take a risk."
The Hunter coast had wild conditions at the weekend as a strong south-southwesterly blew through.
Lord mayor Nuatali Nelmes said it was important for people to take care on all parts of the coastline during times of dangerous surf - not just on the Port of Newcastle-owned breakwall.
"It is a dangerous area, particularly when you've got high swells," she said. "Anywhere along the coastline that is exposed to this large swell, whether you're walking out on the southern side at Stockton, or anywhere along the coast, we do need to be careful."
