That’s how Helen Best summed up her mother’s life to date at May Fisk’s 100^th birthday party at Hugh Cunningham Gardens in Tura Beach on Friday.

There were many stories shared at the event, but it was an act of bravery more than 70 years ago that stood out from the rest.

May noticed a 10-year-old boy struggling to swim in the Cotter River near Canberra before diving in to save him.

Upon rescuing the boy, she realised another boy and a priest were also in the river, but couldn’t help them despite her best efforts.

“It wasn’t brave. It was stupid,” May said.

That did not stop the Royal Humane Society of Australasia presenting May with a bronze medallion for her bravery.

The boy she rescued, Fergus Campbell, has maintained a friendship with May and calls his rescuer on her birthday each year.

The story made front page news in Melbourne’s The Argus in 1941 and was retold at May’s birthday celebration.

The centenarian was joined by her three children and their partners, as well as friends and staff from the nursing home.

May was in good spirits, accepting the celebration after promising at her 90^th birthday that she would not have another party until her 100^th.

In addition to the obligatory cake and speeches, a presentation about May’s life celebrated her achievements and exploits, from motorbike riding and chainsawing to raising a family in Canberra.

May was born on February 25, 1917, and was the oldest of three children in their Port Pirie home in South Australia.

She was a keen athlete, playing basketball, tennis and swimming and honed her craft in dressmaking and bookkeeping.

She moved to Canberra after meeting her husband Noel, which was likened to moving countries back then.

The pair raised three kids – John, David and Helen – on their Hillside property before a bushfire destroyed the farm’s orchard, garage, stables and chicken shed in 1952.

Despite the house withstanding the blaze, the family moved to the Canberra suburb of O’Connor.

The beach life came calling when the pair moved to Pambula in 1964. Noel was one member behind Fisk & Nagle in Merimbula and May ran a shop with a friend that sold ice-creams and milkshakes among other items.

They later moved to Tura Beach in what was the first house in the suburb.

The pair took off on an eight-month caravan trip around Australia and spent many holidays at the Far South Coast with their children and grandchildren.

May’s adventurous life continued in her late 80s, exploring Tasmania, South Australia, Queensland and the Snowy Mountains with family.

Sitting among her children on Friday, May was optimistic for the years ahead.

“As long as I’m in good nick mentally and physically I’ll be happy,” she said.