Bowen family of eight swim for their lives after boats sink in croc-infested river

A Queensland family has recounted the moment two of their boats overturned and threw eight people into crocodile-infested waters during an unforgettable camping trip.

One of the sunken boats was able to be towed back to shore but the other was ‘completely gone’ after the January 22 incident. Picture: Supplied

The crocodiles must not have been hungry the day Bowen’s Brackley family found themselves in strife on the Proserpine River.

You would think eight bodies flailing around in the water would be an appetising sight for the predatory reptiles, but apparently not on January 22 this year, when two boats sank in the renowned croc hotspot, taking Bri Woods and her partner Bayden Brackley’s family down with them.

Ms Woods was pulling up a crab pot when the chaos kicked off that afternoon.

As she and Bayden’s pop Peter leaned over the side of their smaller tinny right when a wave hit, it overbalanced, tipped over, and down it went.

Cue a frantic scramble by Bri, Peter, Bayden, and Bayden’s uncle Jamie to climb aboard the family’s second, slightly larger, boat to avoid spending any more time than necessary in the croc-infested waters.

A family of eight ended up in the crocodile-infested Proserpine River after two boats sank on a summer afternoon. Picture: Supplied

But they had not exactly had time to think that plan through, and before long that boat was sinking too, under the weight of too many people.

Eight family members – ranging in age from 17 to 63 – were then forced to battle strong currents to swim from the middle of the channel to the shore.

Ms Woods said all she could think about was getting back to her four-month-old son Archie, whom she had decided, at the last minute, to leave at the park with Bayden’s nan Karen while the rest of the family went fishing.

Bri Woods and Bayden Brackley of Bowen have shared their story of a harrowing escape from the crocodile-infested Proserpine River. Picture: Supplied

“It’s so lucky I didn’t bring him because we didn’t have a lifejacket for him,” Ms Woods said.

She estimates the eight family members were in the water for at least an hour, right around the estuarine crocs’ feeding time.

“Once the second boat went down, I looked at the two youngest girls and they were crying, and I just said to them ‘pull your shit together, we gotta swim’,” Ms Woods said.

“The closest thing we could see were some rocks so we swam towards them, but they were full of oysters so we all cut ourselves climbing out.”

Bri’s sister-in-law Hayleigh Brackley said she spotted 15 crocodiles, including this one, on a fishing trip on Proserpine River on a recent weekend. Picture: Supplied

With just one set of car keys saved from drowning, the eight exhausted survivors walked to the boat ramp and piled into Karen’s LandCruiser to head back to their Conway campsite.

“I think we all just had a drink to be honest,” Ms Woods said.

“We were all pretty shaken up, we talked about what happened, then we had a visit from the police the next day.”

The family managed to retrieve one of the boats, which ended up on a sandbank with its motor wrecked, but the other boat was “completely gone”, Ms Woods said.

The Brackley family recovering at their Conway campsite the day after their ordeal. Picture: Supplied

She said future family trips might include Conway, but not the Proserpine River.

“It’s too scary,” she said.