Off-duty cop and husband save drowning tourists at Cairns waterfall

The family had been enjoying a Far North Queensland holiday at a popular waterfall when some non-English speaking tourists were caught in a current. Read about their heroic efforts.

A police officer never really switches off, not even on a family holiday.

A few weeks ago, Rockhampton Senior Sergeant Katrina Williams was enjoying a break in Far North Queensland with her husband Warren and two children.

The family were at freshwater swimming hole Crystal Cascades, a 20-minute drive from the Cairns CBD.

A 1.5km path leads to several swimming holes and a waterfall at the end of track, surrounded by granite boulders and rainforest trees.

Just after 12pm, Katrina got out of the water and snapped a photo of the family having a swim.

Katrina Williams snapped this photo of her husband and their two daughters at Crystal Cascades near Cairns. The overseas tourists are captured in the background and soon after this photo was taken, they were drowning.

A short time later, her nine-year-old daughter said she thought some nearby swimmers might have been struggling in the water.

“Upon further sighting it was obvious that they were in trouble … the male person was scrambling with the female person and it was apparent they couldn’t swim and were in real dire straits,” Snr Sgt Williams said.

“We quickly recognised that the male in particular was struggling and he was repeatedly becoming submerged.

“It was one of those situations where we had to act fairly quickly.

“There were a lot of other people in the area who hadn’t noticed what happened.”

Katrina Williams and her family enjoying their family in Far North Queensland.

Snr Sgt Williams and her husband swam about 20m to the female person and dragged her to safety.

“As I got to the male, he took his last gasp for air and became fully submerged,” she said.

“Thankfully, the water was crystal clear and I could look down and see him.

“He was reaching out to me and I could see the look on his face through his goggles that he was wearing at the time, and it was one of real panic, so I reached down and grabbed him pulling from the surface.

“Then my husband returned to help me and we pulled him onto a nearby rock where he managed to recover quite quickly, but it was apparent that he had in fact swallowed a significant amount of water at this moment.”

It appeared that the tourists, who didn’t speak English, had been caught by a deep undercurrent.

“I think they started in the shallows but then moved into the deeper area without understanding the area itself or potentially not understanding the depth of the water and the waterfall was running but yeah, there was definitely under current.

“I think that took them by surprise.”

Snr Sgt Williams is based at the Rockhampton Police Station and was awarded a 20-year clasp for her police service in July 2021.