James Turnham has carried out hundreds of rescues and saved multiple lives.

In 2018 his service as an ocean lifeguard was recognised when he was named Australian Lifeguard of the Year.

But who is the man charged with keeping you and your family safe at the beach?

Firstly he is a local.

James Turnham was born in Port Macquarie in 1986. The eldest of three boys in a tight-knit family.

They lived near the beach. An endless supply of extended family close by.

It was a safe, comfortable and carefree childhood.

As a child he loved the water.

"We grew up near Lighthouse Beach, I did nippers and learnt to surf," he said.

He attended St Joseph's Primary School and MacKillop College before he received a swimming scholarship to Ipswich Grammar in his final two years of senior schooling.

He had dreams of being a competitive swimmer.

"I was in the pool four hours a day, as well as doing cross training," he said.

He enjoyed competing and won a swag of national and international medals.

"Natural swimming ability definitely ran in the family with my mother, aunties, uncles and grandparents all having successful moments, whether it was competitive swimming or as a swimming coach," he said.

He is grateful to his parents for supporting his passion.

"We did do it tough," he acknowledges.

"I remember them having to sell the family car one year to send me off to Nationals over in Perth."

When he left school in 2003, he didn't pursue swimming but instead slipped into a full-time lifeguard position back in Port Macquarie.

"It was like it was meant to be," he said.

"After all my schooling I still wasn't set on a certain career.

"But I really looked up to the lifeguard boss at the time, Jamie Martin," he said.

"His job looked amazing, the fact that you could work at the beach and keep people safe. I really liked that."

James Turnham's carefree existence changed on July 4, 2009.

It was evening. He was about to go out. He heard the sirens go past. Ten minutes later the phone call came.

His adored younger brother Andrew had gone into cardiac arrest down in Lake Cathie.

Andrew was born with a heart condition but a series of operations early on had ensured he would live, by the doctor's account, a normal healthy life.

Andrew's death aged only 18 was unexpected and heartbreaking.

"Andrew loved his bodyboarding, he had just taken on a full-time job with Gillespie Media and he would do the filming and everything was going really good for him," he said.

"We were really close, it was just a devastating time in my life."

What was grief like?

"A deep pain," he said.

"It is not a normal feeling to be so close, seeing him at the beach every day, doing road trips with the three of us brothers together, helping him out with his bodyboard movie premieres up and down the east coast and then to have all that instantly taken away.

"When it happened I knew I'd have to be strong and help keep the family together.

"Each of us dealt with the grief differently, so supporting each other was paramount.

"Even now I think of him and the pain is still there from the day he went. I guess you learn to live with it."

A faith in God helped.

"I go to Church every week and I still feel close to him when I do that," he said.

He also feels close to Andrew at the beach where Andrew filmed.

How does he make sense of someone dying so young?

"I believe he is up there with God looking over us and he is probably needed up there just as much as here," he said.

"He is obviously helping us."

Andrew's death changed him.

"It made me a stronger person," he said.

"I know how precious and short life is. It's taught me to make the most of life and opportunities. You never know what the next hour could bring."

His brother's attitude on life also impacted him profoundly.

"He was such a positive person so I try to always see the positives in everything," he said.

"That was his motto, he would tell people 'just be positive there is nothing you can do about it'."

After Andrew died James moved to Newcastle to do a teaching degree.

But his hometown eventually drew him back after his studies.

The opportunity to be the full-time lifeguard supervisor proved enticing.

"I love keeping people safe," he said.

"The other big part of my job is surf education going to schools and doing surf presentations. My aim before summer each year is to present to 5000 students."

He said it is rewarding to see young lifesavers come through the ranks.

He is also afforded various opportunities through his work.

He has been to Nauru to train their lifeguards and to Far North Queensland to teach Indigenous rangers to use drones.

There are spine-tingling moments too.

"Teaching surf safety to immigrants and refugees has been so rewarding, especially at the end when you get to see them swim in and enjoy the ocean for the first time in Australia," he said.

"Seeing their reaction when small waves wash into them. Hearing the squeals from a woman when the sand started shifting around her feet in the shallow water."

But while the ocean can be life-giving it can also be cruel.

Mr Turnham said witnessing young people drowning is particularly devastating.

"It is the young ones that stick with you for longer," he said.

"There was a spate of drownings over a couple of years that were hard to take."

But he insists lifeguards are doing everything they can to keep to the community safe.

"It is an unpredictable environment and tragedies just keep occurring," he said.

"A lot of people think they can spot a rip when they can't, or misjudge flat waters to swim in when they are in fact not safe at all.

"The ocean is huge and there is a very small percentage of patrolled beaches so we can't be everywhere, that is why education is so big for us."

Turnham is tight-lipped about his personal life.

He recently met a young woman who piqued his interest.

What were you looking for?

"I guess when you meet people, at my age you know who you are, what you're looking for and what would and wouldn't work," he said.

"You quite quickly know if you're going to be compatible, or if things won't work.

"She is beautiful, lives an active lifestyle, enjoys her travel and has the kindest heart - just some of the things that made it feel right."

As for the future, he hopes to keep saving lives.

"I enjoy what I'm doing," he said.

He enjoys travelling. His brother Chris now lives in Canada with his fiance.

But Port Macquarie will always be home.

"No matter where I have travelled, you always come back here realising how beautiful this place is and how lucky we have it," he said.

The Port News series is called In My Life. We meet people of the Hastings and ask them what they have learnt in their lives so far. If you have a suggestion for the series email carla.mascarenhas@portnews.com.au

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