Former Home and Away star Lynne McGranger found herself at the centre of a frightening medical emergency while filming a new television series.
The 72-year-old was taking part in a scuba diving challenge on Shark! when her first-ever dive took a dangerous turn, forcing medics to rush to her aid.
McGranger was one of six Australian celebrities undergoing a dive qualification assessment before facing tiger sharks as part of the program. Ahead of the challenge, she admitted she was not a strong swimmer and was concerned about managing her buoyancy underwater.
Things quickly went wrong when conditions became choppy and water began leaking into her mask.
An “exhausted” McGranger struggled beneath the surface, with her legs reportedly going limp as she started coughing underwater.
Former Navy clearance diver Paul de Gelder said the situation became serious very quickly.
“As soon as you’re underwater and you start breathing in, you are in a dangerous situation if you don’t know what to do. She could drown, in her mask.”
The dive was immediately abandoned as crew members carefully brought McGranger back to the surface, where a medic removed her mask and began assessing her condition.
Co-star Matt Nable said the scene was alarming.
“I was fearful for her, in a major way. You didn’t have to be a doctor and look at her and go, this is not good,” he said.
Shark expert Annie Guttridge described McGranger as appearing “lifeless” and “limp” after she was pulled from the water.
“She was pretty lifeless, her body was quite limp,” Guttridge said.
“And I could see some of the colour in her face had been removed.”
McGranger was placed on oxygen while the team prepared to return to shore, with a hospital on standby if further treatment was required.
Guttridge said there were concerns McGranger may have experienced secondary drowning after inhaling water.
“Secondary drowning is when you take on an amount of water that doesn’t necessarily go into your stomach, it goes into your lungs,” she explained.
“Which is a danger because it can happen right there and it can happen days later.”
The incident left fellow cast members shaken, with Nable refusing to continue the challenge until they knew McGranger was safe.
“It was just a sick, sad feeling,” he said.
Influencer Tammy Hembrow also expressed concern for the veteran actress.
“We need to make sure she’s going to be alright after this,” de Gelder added.
Images: Nine
