The 27 year old Sydney stalwart only made his Australia debut a few weeks ago but already he has established himself at right back at the 2019 Asian Cup.

But the A-League veteran told the Players' Voice website how close he was to dying when an afternoon surf on Sydney's Northern Beaches turned to terror.

After the budding surfer paddled out alone in rough seas, he soon realised he was beyond his skillset and tried to head back to the beach.

But he was caught by a set of crashing waves which dragged him towards the sewage pipe which runs offshore from Collaroy beach, before another pounding wave dragged him under.

His leg rope got tangled on the pipework and unable to breathe, Grant prepared himself for death.

"I was dragged towards the pipe," he told Players Voice. "Then a wave picked me up and smashed me down on top of it. I hit my arm, leg and ribs hard.

"But before I could feel the pain, I was under the water. I came back up and got the chance to take one last breath before I was pushed straight underneath the pipe.

"I felt my body get wedged in there, in the dark, and realised my leg rope was caught around one of the metal poles that hold the pipe up off the ocean floor.

"I was pretty frantic, as you can imagine, fighting to get up for a breath, but I couldn’t reach my ankle to get free because the surf was pushing my leg in the opposite direction to the rest of my body.

"I don’t know how long I was under that pipe but, after a while, the fight just went out of me. It seemed impossible.

"I gave up. I stopped fighting."

He added: "I know that might sound exaggerated or heavy, but I did. I stopped trying to swim to the top. Everything went peaceful and quiet under the water. I got ready to just let it happen. ‘This is it.’

"And then something happened that I can’t explain: my leg rope snapped. I got spat out on the other side of the pipe and washed down the beach.

"I don’t know who it was, but someone was definitely looking out for me that day.

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