Off-duty paramedic helps save Qld surfer

An off-duty paramedic has helped save an unconscious surfer from drowning at a Gold Coast beach.

It's believed the man, aged in his 30s, hit his head in shallow water after a wave knocked him off his board at Coolangatta on Tuesday morning.

The paramedic who was walking on the beach spotted him floating and with the help of lifeguards pulled him to shore.

The man was consciousness by the time emergency services arrived but he's believed to have suffered a spinal injury.

He's been taken to the Brisbane's Princess Alexandra Hospital.