A SURFING trip with a group of mates turned into a near tragedy for Currumbin lifeguard Ben Goodwin, who almost drowned at South Stradbroke Island yesterday.

Mr Goodwin, 23, took off on his first wave about 10am while surfing with his friends only to be hit in the head by his surfboard and knocked unconscious.

Mr Goodwin's best friend, Lawson Hayles, noticed something was wrong when his friend was missing from the line-up.

“There was so many people on the beach and I was thinking ‘What the hell happened?',” the Palm Beach resident said.

“Then someone said to me Ben was on the beach.

“He was purple. It was the heaviest feeling seeing your best friend dead on the beach and not being able to do anything.”

Mr Goodwin's friends, Darren Scott and Murray Scott, pulled him up the beach after they spotted him lying face down in the water .

Another surfer performed CPR on Mr Goodwin before placing him in the recovery position.

“It felt like the chopper was never going to come,” Mr Hayles said.

“We just nearly lost our best friend.”

Mr Goodwin was airlifted by the RACQ CareFlight Helicopter to Gold Coast Hospital, where he was expected to remain overnight for observation.

Flight paramedic Jaye Newton said it could have been a very different story if the patient had been surfing alone.

“He was unconscious and getting hit by waves.

“He could have easily drowned if he wasn't dragged out of the water,” Mr Newton said.

The near-death experience came only days after a surfer died at Currumbin Alley, ironically where Mr Goodwin patrols as a lifeguard.