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Selfie-taking couple swept off notorious Nobby's Breakwall in TERRIFYING VIDEO

Paramedics said the man, who is in his forties, and the woman, who is in her thirties, were lucky to be alive

A couple of selfie maniacs are 'lucky to be alive' after they were mashed by a giant wave while taking a selfie at a scenic selfie spot near Sydney. The incident took place north of Sydney on July 11. The man and woman had been enjoying the wild weather and watching on as massive 4.1m swells crashed against Nobbys Breakwall in Newcastle. 

The couple attempted to take a selfie against the dramatic backdrop, but moments later the pair was suddenly washed away by a monster wave as they posed for the photo and disappeared into the whitewash with the harrowing moment captured on camera by shocked bystanders. According to witnesses, the duo had tried to run away as the freak wave smashed into them but were helpless against the huge swells.

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"I realised they disappeared and went down, where they were scrambling onto the rocks," a bystander named Ben Arkinstall told NBN News. "Several waves came in behind the original wave and kept coming over the top of them. It could have been a lot worse. They may have ended up in the ocean. They lost all of their phones." Miraculously the couple survived. The pair managed to clamber back up the rocks and made it back to safety on the shore, where they were treated by paramedics before being taken to the hospital with multiple injuries, including suspected fractures.

Paramedics said the man, who is in his forties, and the woman, who is in her thirties, were lucky to be alive. They have not been identified.

"Patients being swept into the water can be a dangerous, life-threatening situation," NSW Ambulance Inspector Jake Broughton-Rouse said. "On this occasion the patients were able to make it back to the breakwall where paramedics treated them for suspected multiple fractures. This is a reminder for people to remain safe and vigilant around the water, especially when there are dangerous surf conditions. Our patients today are extremely lucky to be alive." 

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Although the couple did lose their phones in the ordeal, they narrowly escaped with their lives. “Death by Selfie” has become a modern phenomenon and it has been widely reported that selfies cause more deaths now than shark attacks. The near-tragedy unfolded on a day when the Bureau of Meteorology issued hazardous surf warnings along the entire 1300km NSW coastline from Byron in the north to Eden in the south. The massive swells also battered Sydney's coastline on Monday, where a lifeguard tower was left teetering on a rapidly disappearing wall of sand near Cronulla and needed cranes to be lifted to safety.

"It's not the worth the risk going out all the way out to the breakwall with such a big south swell, it's magnet out there," lifeguard Michael Boldy said. "This is what happens, they get injured".