Tradie undies has sent a big consignment of pink-accented jocks to hero cop Zach Rolfe who was wearing the exact same style when he rescued two tourists from a raging flooded river in the Northern Territory last month.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
Now we know the fact Zach was stripped down to the black Tradie undies with the pink trim is possibly the most trivial part of what was a a courageous, heart-stopping and, ultimately, all-turned-out-for-the-best rescue.
But it's still a pretty good part of the story.
Zach, a former Canberra boy who had only just started working for the Northern Territory police, and his superior, Acting Sergeant Kirstina Jamieson, both had to take off their uniforms to perform the rescue on December 27.
They managed to retrieve the first tourist with the help of a member of the public and then Zach single-handedly found and rescued the second from the flooded Hugh River west of Alice Springs.
The son of Canberra identities Richard and Deb Rolfe, Zach took the rescue all in his stride, saying it all "turned out pretty sweet".
He also confirmed at the time he was wearing Tradie jocks during the rescue which he reckoned were "good undies".
That was all music to the ears of Tradie general manager Ben Goodfellow.
He sent about 30 pairs of the popular pink-trimmed undies to the officers' station in the NT.
"We're a family-owned company up against the Bonds behemoth so when someone like Zach gives us a shout-out, it's absolutely brilliant," he said.
"We started the brand six years ago, it was picked up by Big W and since then, things have sort of exploded."
Goodfellow said Zach was a "good looking guy" and might even give Tradie ambassador, rugby union player, Nick "The Honey Badger" Cummins, a run for his money as model for the brand.
And in a really weird twist of fate, Cross of Valour recipient Allan Sparkes, who rescued a boy from a stormwater drain in Coffs Harbour in 1996, and who offered his congratulations to Zach in the wake of his heroics, will actually be an Australia Day ambassador in Alice Springs later this month.
Sparkes agreed to be the Alice Springs ambassador way before the rescue by Zach but now plans to meet up with him and his police colleagues during the January 26 visit.
It's a small world.
