STRUGGLING in the pounding ocean off the coast of Western Australia nearly five years ago, David Marek was confronted with the most heartbreaking of decisions.Let go of his brother Jamie or let go of his own life.The pair had been fishing off rocks at Yallingup, near Perth, when David, then 20, watched a monster wave sweep his 31-year-old brother into wild seas.He immediately rushed to throw Jamie a rope, but a second wave swept him in too.Fully clothed, he swam towards his unconscious brother and managed to keep his head above water as he swam back towards the rocks."He has gone through something I would never want to go through," David and Jamie's father Ian Marek said yesterday."He said to us, 'I could feel Jamie drowning and I had to let go'."He blamed himself for a long, long time."In January this year, an entirely unexpected letter from the Governor-General arrived at the Haddon home of his parents.A person, still unknown to the family, had nominated David for a bravery award.David, 25, a former Ballarat High School student now studying electrical engineering in Queensland, said the award nomination came as a complete surprise.He still struggles to talk or think about the day."I never really wanted (nomination) that much because I never got to save my brother; it was a bit upsetting when it came through," he said."I still feel the same, that will never change, I'll still never see myself as heroic, if I had saved him I might feel a bit different."I'd exchange it for having Jamie back in a second."His mother Glenda said on that day, people passing by heard David's cries for help and alerted emergency services."We nearly lost them both. They revived David and had to put him on life support, but Jamie was too far gone," she said. "We are very lucky we didn't have two funerals to go to."Jamie, a geologist, had lived in Perth for five years before his death and was just three months away from becoming a father for the first time.His daughter was born on David's 21st birthday.Glenda said despite the death of their elder son, both she and Ian could not be prouder of their younger boy's actions.