Stuart Collings farewelled at emotional funeral, after he died in freak whale incident

The man who held his unconscious brother-in-law afloat after a whale breached and tipped their boat in Port Botany last month has been hailed a “true hero” by family and friends.

The man who held his unconscious brother-in-law afloat after a whale breached and tipped their boat in Port Botany has been hailed a hero by family and friends after it was revealed he too almost died during the ordeal.

Stuart Collings has been farewelled at a moving funeral after a whale breached and landed on top of his brother-in-law Darren Curmi’s boat on September 30.

Mr Collings’ emotional father recounted the heartbreaking details of the freak incident during the service, thanking Mr Curmi for risking his own life to ensure his son didn’t die alone after they were thrown from opposing ends of the boat.

“Darren came up and couldn’t find Stuart, a minute later Stuart popped up,” Mr Collings’ father said through tears.

“Darren swam over to Stuart, he knew he was dead, but he grabbed him and he hugged him and he held onto that man for one hour. Sixty minutes.”

Darren Curmi (left) almost lost his life in his attempts to save his brother-in-law Stuart Collings (right).

The broken father said he “couldn’t imagine” what Mr Curmi went through in those dark waters, as he held onto his unconscious “best mate”.

“My Darren, my son-in-law, could have left him, could have saved himself,” Mr Collings Snr said.

“He could have died too, trying to save my Stuart. I love him very much.”

The pair had set out on Mr Curmi’s boat, the Rock On In, before sunrise on September 30.

It had been a normal Saturday morning, with the pair set to spend a few hours on the water doing their favourite thing — fishing.

But it was cut short just 30 minutes in when a whale breached and hit the back end of the 4.8m boat, throwing the men overboard.

Police inspect the fishing boat that collided with a whale off Botany Bay. Picture: Max Mason-Hubers

Police were alerted to the incident by other boaters, who saw the empty boat circling waters off Cape Banks at La Perouse.

NSW Water Police arrived soon afterwards and pulled the men to safety.

Darren Curmi.

Stuart Collings.

Attempts to revive Mr Collings were unsuccessful and the 61-year-old was declared dead at the Foreshore Boat Ramp.

Mr Curmi was also transported to hospital with minor injuries.

Stories of Mr Collings’ fishing expeditions and the close bond he shared with his family were shared during the service — as well as heartfelt thanks for Mr Curmi, who sat by his wife in front of his brother-in-law’s coffin.

Mr Curmi’s daughters, while farewelling their favourite Uncle Stu, also paid tribute to their father.

“Dad, you were a true hero for what you went through that day,” they said.

“Uncle Stuart would be so grateful for what you did. And so are we.”
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