Couple’s miraculous escape after being washed away in croc-infested waters

After being caught out by rising floodwaters, Tony and Lisa managed to scramble out the car windows. But that was just the start of their hellish ordeal.

Tony and Lisa Fogg have been stranded in floodwaters for days. Picture: ABC News

A Gold Coast man has recounted the harrowing moment he thought he would watch his family starve to death after being stranded on a riverbank surrounded by croc-infested waters.

Tony and Lisa Fogg had been on the road for six and a half years, working in remote Aboriginal communities in northern Australia.

Last Thursday morning the pair were headed to their new job at Kowanyama, Northwestern Queensland with their two dogs, Charlie and Daisy.

At 4pm, they drove across a rural road that went across a small river named Clarke Creek.

“As we were making our way across the creek, about a metre of flash floodwater came up from the river and slammed into the car,” Mr Fogg explained.

“Before we knew it, we were floating down what had rapidly become a river.

Tony and Lisa Fogg.

“The car started to fill up with water and we couldn’t get the doors or the windows to work.

“With about two inches of air left in the car, Lisa’s passenger window finally popped open and went down all the way so she got to escape out of the car and cling to the back of the car.

“By then, the water was well over the roof of the car.”

Mr Fogg said he used his last breaths to rescue both his dogs out of the car.

“I call it my James Bond moment, I used my last breath to get out of our car, and I grabbed my youngest dog, a blue cattle dog and threw her up onto the top,” he said.

“Then swam back into the window, which was fully submerged by this stage, and grabbed our older red heeler dog.

“We both made it out of the window and back to the surface with no breath to spare. And then we all scrambled from there to the bank of what was now a raging river in Clarke Creek.”

Sitting around at night waiting to be saved.

There, the family survived for three days, fending off a three-metre crocodile that had been stalking the couple and their two dogs six feet away from the bank.

The only way to get fresh water was to wade into the creek with the crocodile.

“I found three discarded cans and cut the tops off, and we used them as drinking receptacles,” Mr Fogg explained.

“The first time I went into the creek I saw the croc. I backed off with some water in my hands. For that whole evening, that croc kept going to come out of the water - by then it was pitch black.

“I had to grab a branch off a tree and sharpen the end - I had a small knife with me. And I basically used that to ward off the croc well into the next day.”

The family survived on creek water and had no food, using a small LED light to see at night. Mr Fogg said he wrote SOS in big letters on the bank in the hopes a plane or helicopter would spot them.

“We learned a lot from the countrymen that we’ve been working with and around over the years too,” he said.

“We tried very hard not to do anything during the hottest parts of the day and stay in the shade so that we weren’t using up energy for no reason.

“I honestly thought I was going to have to watch my family starve to death in front of me.”

Mr Fogg said he had kept his wallet in his pocket and took sparse photos to “help identify” the family in case they died.

The tiny shelter they made out of leaves and branches while stranded at night with their dogs, Charlie and Daisy.

“I tried to take photos but I was careful not to use all my battery on my phone,” he said.

On Saturday, Mrs Fogg heard the sound of helicopter rotors nearby.

“It was a LifeFlight helicopter that came around near us, and then obviously had seen us and did a circle around. They must have seen the SOS signs,” Mr Fogg said.

“They assessed us, put us in the helicopter with the dogs, and then whisked us away to Normanton Hospital.

“The amount of elation we felt when we got picked up by a LifeFlight helicopter was just huge.”

At the hospital, Mrs Fogg was treated for the dozens of mosquito bites on her legs, and both were treated for dehydration.

Mr Fogg said the next stage was getting their life back, having lost the majority of their belongings that were stored in their 4WD drive.

“We literally spent most of the rest of our money preparing ourselves for a 12-month stint in Kowanyama without leaving the place,” he said.

“I had 12 months of medication for my blood pressure, and Lisa had all of her stuff. We bought everything in advance, so we used up all of our money as well. That’s all down the river too.”

Lisa was attacked by swarms of mosquitos, she had to undergo blood testing in the hospital.

After spending days in Normanton Hospital, the pair were now residing in an Airbnb in Cairns. Mr Fogg said they just wanted to get home and see their family on the Gold Coast.

“We’re trying to figure out how we can get ourselves and the dogs back down to the Gold Coast so they can be with their families. Obviously, they were all beside themselves when we went missing,” Mr Fogg said.

“I’m still a little bit jumpy, I am still making sure that everybody’s okay, even more than what I normally do, as the protector of the family.

“Lisa is a bit fragile psychologically - she’ll make sure she gets some counselling when we get home. I think being with family is going to help a lot.

“We’re certainly not the sort of people who normally ask for help. We’re the exact opposite, and we usually try and help everybody else around us, but we haven’t really got a choice at the moment.”

A fundraiser has been made for the family, which has already reached $2000.

Donate here.