Winner by name, winner by nature — Dave Winner has just secured an IMB Bank Community Foundation grant that will take him much closer to his incredible goal to train one million people in CPR by 2030. Photo: IMB Bank Community Foundation.
Coalcliff’s Dave Winner reckons he’s both the luckiest and unluckiest person alive, and hearing his story, it’s clear why.
In 2021, the Coalcliff Surf Club life member had gone for a surf, as he had done many times before, when a rogue wave washed him into a gutter. There, he sustained a serious blow to the head, resulting in a fracture to the C2 and C3 vertebrae. He was knocked unconscious, drowned and sustained a cardiac arrest.
Two young men from the club ran to his aid.
“At first, they couldn’t see me, because I was under the water. Then the ocean literally lifted me up and threw me onto the rock shelf, right at their feet,” Dave said. “But I was dead.”
In a poetic stroke of luck, the two young men had been trained in CPR by Dave himself, who had spent 30 years teaching first aid and CPR to club members.
“I used to joke that I would always give them the best training, because one day they might be working on me. In all seriousness, if they hadn’t been trained, I wouldn’t be here,” he said.
“I am 73 years old, and I am a level four quadriplegic. This isn’t how I expected to spend my golden years. But I am a great believer that things happen for a reason. I was meant to be brought back that day. There was a purpose to it all.”
That purpose was Dave Winner Foundation, a Coalcliff-based volunteer-run foundation dedicated to empowering one million Australians with lifesaving skills by 2030.
The foundation has taught just shy of 300 everyday people, of all ages and backgrounds, how to administer first aid and CPR in the crucial minutes while waiting for first responders.
“One of the people who went through the program was blind,” Dave said. “He now knows how to administer CPR by feel.”
It’s not an official certification, but informed by Dave’s decades-long experience as Colacliff Surf Club’s chief training officer and as a licensed first aid trainer with Surf Life Saving NSW’s commercial arm, the NSW Surf Sport Academy.
The sessions are informal, and there is no test – simply the imparting of knowledge, skills and confidence.
The foundation’s biggest hurdle to achieve its target is not demand, but reach — a barrier now significantly reduced thanks to a community grant.
Dave Winner Foundation volunteers have trained almost 300 people in CPR. Photo: IMB Bank Community Foundation.
The IMB Bank Community Foundation this week announced the 58 not-for-profit organisations sharing in more than $700,000 in funding to support vital community initiatives creating enduring, positive impacts in our communities.
They span from planting native trees to improving hospital stays for ill children with hero-themed garments and providing food for the disadvantaged.
IMB Bank Chief Executive Robert Ryan said receiving a record number of applications in 2025 was evidence that direct, localised funding, such as the IMB Bank Community Foundation grants, was as important as ever to help our community heroes continue their important work.
“Each year we witness firsthand how this funding supports not-for-profit organisations and the wonderful people giving their time and energy to create lasting, positive change in our communities,” he said.
“Recipients of the 2025 IMB Bank Community Foundation grants are delivering diverse initiatives that are saving and improving lives, revitalising our environment and helping those in need. We are proud to play our part in supporting this vital work to improve our communities.”
For the Dave Winner Foundation, the funds mean the completion of an app that can not only put a call through to emergency services for the user, but also instruct them with clear, visual prompts from qualified professionals, how to administer CPR while they wait.
Users can also complete the foundation’s training via the app, which Dave hopes can be rolled out in early 2026.
“Everyone in my team is a volunteer, so in terms of bandwidth and reach, this allows us to push our training to a much broader community,” Dave said.
“I’ve been lucky enough to bring a couple of people back through CPR, and I myself am literally living proof that this training can save lives.
“I now hold the philosophy that if we save even one life by sharing this, then what happened to me was worth it.”
For more information or to book a course, visit Dave Winner Foundation, and for the full list of 2025 IMB Bank Community Foundation grant recipients and their inspiring initiatives, visit IMB Community Foundation.
