Dreamworld tragedy: First responder Gavin Fuller tells of the horror

GAVIN Fuller had spent 36 years as a military medic and Queensland ambulance officer when he arrived on the scene of the Dreamworld disaster, but nothing could prepare him for the horror that followed.

• Prosecution possible for Dreamworld tragedy

GAVIN Fuller had spent 36 years as a military medic and Queensland ambulance officer when he arrived on the scene of the Dreamworld disaster.

But none of his vast experience dealing with bloodshed and trauma could prepare him for the horror that confronted him.

Or the “surreal” feeling of dealing with such a devastating tragedy on a ride he had been on with his own family, at the Coomera theme park they had visited countless times.

One of the first paramedics to arrive at Dreamworld on that dreadful day a year ago, Mr Fuller told of bodies trapped in the ride, of desperate efforts to revive survivors and of a frantic search for missing children also feared dead.

“I’ve been around a while and seen a few things, but this was right up there with the very worst incidents I’ve attended,” he said.

“It was very confronting and emotional.”

Gavin Fuller was one of the first responders to the Dreamworld tragedy last year. Picture: Adam Head

A paramedic supervisor, Mr Fuller was stationed at the Gold Coast University Hospital when the call came through that there had been “an incident on one of the rides at Dreamworld”.

“Nothing was confirmed at that time but it progressed quickly from the time I got the call to the time I got there,” he said.

“First it was one person who was injured, then it was two, then three, then four. They’d found one person and commenced CPR. Then there were two people still trapped in the ride.

“We knew we already had four people (casualties) but we knew we also had two children and we didn’t know where they were.”

Gavin Fuller addresses the media on the day of the Dreamworld disaster. Picture: AFP Photo/Tertius Pickard

Mr Fuller entered the Thunder River Rapids ride to see one of his crews trying to revive a victim in what he described as a “big pit”, which had been drained of water. But there was still water further down in a deeper part of the ride.

“One of the things we were thinking straight away was ‘are the kids still in that water?’ ” he recalled chillingly.

As the frantic search for the children continued, with rescuers scouring the scene and poring over CCTV footage to try to locate them, paramedics worked feverishly to save the adults’ lives.

“We had a female on the ground and another male had just been pulled out of the water,” Mr Fuller recalled.

“A male and a female were still entrapped (on the ride) but both were deceased. The injuries on the male who was pulled from the water were so severe that it was improper to continue resuscitation.”

Dreamworld victim Luke Dorsett.

Kate Goodchild was on the ride with her brother.

Mr Fuller said his team worked on the woman for about 30 minutes before also ceasing resuscitation, grimly accepting there was nothing they could do to save her.

Amid all the horror and heartbreak, there was salvation – the missing kids, Ebony, 12, and Kieran, 10, had been found alive.

They were the children of Kate Goodchild, 32, and Cindy Low, 42, who died in the tragedy along with Ms Goodchild’s brother Luke Dorsett, 35, and his partner Roozbeh Araghi, 38.

Roozi Araghi died on the ride with his partner, Luke Dorsett.

Dreamworld victim Cindy Low.

The children had been thrown from the ride into the water but had managed to clamber to safety, Mr Fuller said.

“We examined both children. Neither of them was physically injured but emotionally they were quite affected,” he said.

“They wanted to know where their mums were and what was going on. That was probably the most emotional moment out of the whole thing.”

Looking back now, Mr Fuller – who with his team underwent counselling in the wake of the tragedy – says no one at Dreamworld that day could have walked away mentally unscathed.

“I’ve got two kids myself,” he said. “When you can relate your own family to being involved, it does make it harder to deal with and get over a job like this.

“I’ve been there (to Dreamworld) with my family a million times and I’ve been on the ride, because it’s one of the few rides the whole family can go on.

“We’ve all been there with our families and kids.”

Mr Fuller takes one positive out of the disaster.

“Four people lost their lives and that is terribly tragic ... but two kids were spared,” he said.

“They’ve got an incredibly tough journey ahead of them but they’re alive.”