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‘I heard him screaming, bone-chilling screams of terror’, Cairns father says after son was attacked by pack of dingoes

A pack of four dingoes “wanted blood” as they mauled a six-year-old Cairns boy and tried to drag him off during a family holiday.

Boy attacked by dingo on Qld’s Fraser Island

A PACK of four dingoes “wanted blood” as they mauled a six-year-old Cairns boy and tried to drag him off in the latest horror wild dog attack on Fraser Island.

The boy’s father exclusively told the Cairns Post how it took “just 10 seconds” for the attack to unfold at the World Heritage-listed tourist destination.

His brave son told him: “I did what you told me Dad. I stopped, but they just kept coming for me”.

Dingo Attack, Fraser Island. Pic Glenn Barnes
Dingo Attack, Fraser Island. Pic Glenn Barnes

The family-of-four, on a camping holiday from Cairns, had been at the bush campsite for six days where the dingoes had been “skulking around” for the entire stay.

They had just been for a swim and were driving up the coastal sand dune off the beach to their Wongai campsite on Saturday about 5.30pm.

The little boy asked if he could race them up the hill and was running just a few metres behind the 4WD when the wild dogs struck.

“The pack of dingoes saw him and went straight into the chase-and-kill instinct. They wanted blood,’’ the father-of-two said.

“I heard him screaming, bone-chilling screams of terror and fear and pain, and turned around and saw him set upon and dragged down by this pack of dingoes.

“It was out-of-control, vicious, terrifying.

“He has severe puncture wounds, bite and teeth marks, to both his legs.

“One dingo had him by the leg and was trying to drag him off down the sand.”

Dingo Attack, Fraser Island. Pic Glenn Barnes.
Dingo Attack, Fraser Island. Pic Glenn Barnes.

He ran into the attack “screaming, shouting, swearing, kicking”, wrenched his boy from the jaws of the dog, lifted him into his arms and chased off the dog pack.

“It was a matter of 10 seconds,” he said. “I hate to think what might have happened if they got to his head or throat.

“They’re strong dogs, they’re wild animals, they are predators and he was their prey. If the attack went on any longer they would have killed him.

“I was so angry, but I was also in so much shock, we washed the blood off his legs, applied first aid, wrapped him in bandages, and then raced up to Eurong.”

He praised the “outstanding” efforts of the paramedics at the township on Fraser Island who treated his son before the injured child and his mum were flown by RACQ LifeFlight Rescue helicopter to Hervey Bay Hospital.

A six-year-old Cairns boy has been attacked by dingoes while holidaying on Fraser Island. Photo: Glenn Barnes story kathleen
A six-year-old Cairns boy has been attacked by dingoes while holidaying on Fraser Island. Photo: Glenn Barnes story kathleen

Originally published as ‘I heard him screaming, bone-chilling screams of terror’, Cairns father says after son was attacked by pack of dingoes

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Original URL: https://www.couriermail.com.au/news/national/i-heard-him-screaming-bonechilling-screams-of-terror-cairns-father-says-after-son-was-attacked-by-pack-of-dingoes/news-story/46e2e320655f97d43b3991f115d561da