‘Resigned themselves to dying’: How rescuers found couple trapped in croc-infested floodwaters

Rescuers have recounted the incredible moment they found an Australian couple stranded when their car was washed away in floodwaters.

The pair, aged in their 50s, spent three days and two nights in the Gulf Country northwest of Staaten River National Park.

They’d tried to drive through a river crossing when their vehicle was overcome by a large wave of floodwater.

Emergency services were notified that the pair hadn’t arrived at Kowanyama when they were expected to, but flooded roads meant the Queensland Police Service (QPS) were unable to reach them.

On Saturday, an experienced Kiwi pilot in his first week at LifeFlight and a Brisbane-based LifeFlight flight examiner scoured hundreds of kilometres of desert in search for the couple.

They were spotted after writing “SOS” large letters in the dirt.

Mount Isa-based LifeFlight pilot Michael Adair said the couple couldn’t believe they were being rescued.

“They said: ‘thank God you’re here, we didn’t think anyone was coming’,” he said.

“The wife told us she had been hearing voices in the bush from exposure and had convinced herself that nobody was coming to help them, so she was very emotional when we hugged her.

“The couple had written two big SOS signs in the dirt and were frantically waving up at the helicopter as we flew over them.

“These people had resigned themselves to dying and seeing the look on their faces when they saw us and realised they weren’t going to die - that’s the reason we do this.”

He described the rescue as “pretty intense” but said the couple was in good spirits when they realised they were being rescued.

Brisbane-based LifeFlight flight examiner Mark Overton was in Mount Isa taking Michael through his final assessments, and was in the co-pilot seat for Saturday’s search and rescue.

“Mike is used to flying in a completely different environment and we’ve thrown him into the middle of the outback and on his first job he’s been sent to the middle of nowhere,” he said.

“The distance we had to travel to get from Mt Isa to north of Nomanton up near Kowanyama was very, very fast and just the difference between New Zealand and Australia was huge.

“He was a bit taken aback by just how big Australia can be.”

The couple told the rescue crew they were moving from Normanton to Kowanyama and everything they owned was in the 4WD that was washed away in crocodile-infested floodwater.

“The car flooded quickly, the electric windows locked, and the pair managed to get out the passenger window,” he said.

“The man had to dive down to retrieve their two dogs who were limp by the time he got to them, but they were okay.

“They had a cattle dog and a rusty red mix red dog we called Bluey and Bingo.

“It was a bit of a clown car trying to get six people and two dogs into a three and a half tonne helicopter, but we did it and they were pretty relieved.”

The pair had been in 40-degree heat had been badly attacked by bugs, had no food to eat and were forced to drink muddy river water, which made them sick.

They also said a large crocodile had been stalking them and the dogs both nights they were stranded. They made a makeshift shelter out of branches and leaves to keep the crocodile away.

“I was saying ‘choice’ a lot,” Michael said.

“I was looking down and seeing all sorts of Australian animals - kangaroos, and cattle and crocs.

“I have been in the rescue industry for five years back home in New Zealand but it was just wonderful to have that as my first experience of rescue helicopter operations in Australia.

“Not only a really technically challenging mission, but one with a perfect outcome. It was an amazing start to my Australian rescue career.”