‘Hang onto me’: Tragic final words as daughter taken by ‘violent’ floods

The father of missing Victorian teen Krystal Cain has revealed the horrifying moment his daughter was swept away in floodwaters.

Krystal and Lenny Cain. Photo: supplied.

THE last words 14-year-old Krystal Cain heard her father Lenny say were “hang onto me, and we’ll hang onto this branch”.

Seconds later, she was swept away in “violent flood waters, still desperately trying to cling to the broken branch.

That was three weeks ago.

Now, for the first time since the traumatic flooding event that took his daughter, Lenny has spoken exclusively with the Gympie Times, recounting exactly what happened during those hellish 13 hours he waited for help and his last moments with Krystal before she disappeared.

Krystal and Lenny shared an unbreakable bond as father and daughter. Photo: supplied.

In the dead of night on January 8, 2022, Lenny, 53, was driving his silver 2001 Toyota Camry along Murgon Gayndah Rd at Booubyjan, near Gympie with his beloved artistic teen daughter in the back seat, happily sketching.

They had made the journey from Echuca, Victoria and were on a road trip to visit Krystal’s grandparents at Agnes Water, near Gladstone.

The plan was to drive inland through the country town of Biggenden, a route Lenny knew well.

He said the roads were clear and there was no sign of danger at the time.

Unbeknown to Lenny and Krystal, a torrential downpour from ex-tropical cyclone Seth had dumped more than 650 millilitres of water in areas across the Wide Bay, turning creeks into swollen, raging rivers and destroying everything in their path.

Their car didn’t stand a chance.

While driving across a bridge on Murgon Gayndah Rd, near the intersection of the Burnett Hwy, they heard a loud thud as the car struck a pothole.

The Camry was dead, leaving them stranded in the middle of the bridge as the creek below them began to rise.

Lenny put the hazard lights on and got out of the car to investigate while Krystal remained in the back seat, fixated on her drawing.

When the water first crept up over the bridge it barely touch his tyres but within minutes it was pouring through the windows of the broken down car.

Using an extension cord tied between them as a lifeline against what Lenny described as a “violent” current, he and Krystal abandoned the car and leaned against the driver’s side door.

“I was hoping the water would pin us to the car and not come any higher, because that was our safety barrier, it was holding us there,” he said.

But then, they felt the car being ripped off the road, and it was taking them with it.

This was how Lenny’s car was found during the extensive search for Krystal in the weeks after she disappeared.

Lenny said Krystal noticed this first, but realised their cord was caught on something inside the car.

She quickly untied herself to avoid being dragged away, but it was already too late.

The gravity of the car being washed away sucked Lenny and Krystal into the floodwaters, and they were swept 10 metres downstream before Lenny saw a nearby gumtree.

Running on adrenaline, Lenny did what any parent would do and pushed Krystal to safety first, on a high branch, while he fought against the current.

Then, he felt shooting pains down his left arm.

Tests would later confirm a heart attack but he was determined to keep himself and Krystal alive until they could be rescued.

“I don’t know how I did that … I was weak,” he said.

“We had to keep climbing up higher and higher as the water kept rising.

“I just kept telling her, ‘we’ll be okay, someone will find us’.”

Krystal Cain. Photo: Facebook

The higher they climbed, the weaker the branches became, and after five hours, a blood curdling snap underneath them confirmed their worst fears as they were plunged back into the creek.

They were swept further downstream until Lenny made a second attempt at safety with a new tree, again pushing his daughter to a high branch before climbing up himself.

By now, the darkness had subsided, and for the first time, Lenny and Krystal could see exactly what they were up against.

“Night time wasn’t so scary, because we couldn’t see what was going on around us, but day time was horrifying,” he said.

He said the roar of the raging torrent below was deafening, with only the sound of debris smacking against the tree to separate the noise.

Krystal Cain. Photo: supplied.

They clung to safety for another five hours, hoping and praying they were safe and help was not far away.

What happened next would haunt Lenny for the rest of his life.

“I felt some of the other branches on the tree breaking,” Lenny said.

Terrified and knowing there would likely not be a third chance at safety, he clung to his terrified daughter.

“I said ‘hang onto me, and we’ll hang onto this branch’.”

Those would be the last words Krystal ever heard her father say.

There was an almighty crack, as Lenny and Krystal again fell into the waters below.

As Lenny hit the water, he found himself pinned under by his T-shirt, where he stayed for a minute and a half before he miraculously escaped and scrambled to the surface.

When he emerged, Krystal had vanished.

With nothing left to hold onto, Lenny was taken by the current and swept an estimated 100 to 200 metres downstream before he was slammed into a third tree.

“I managed to climb onto one of those branches there, and I was looking for Krystal everywhere but I just couldn’t find her, I couldn’t do anything,” he said.

Lenny screamed his daughter’s name over and over but there was no reply.

Krystal Cain with her aunty Trina at Christmas 2021, weeks before she disappeared.

Alone, terrified and heartbroken the only thing Lenny could do was continue to scream for help, hoping someone would hear him.

He was spotted by Booubyjan farmers Julie and Ken Thompson, who called rescue crews to get Lenny to safety.

He said Mrs Thompson had witnessed Krystal floating away through one of their paddocks, but lost sight of her after she saw Lenny.

He was winched to safety after two more hours clinging to the tree, and in a state of shock, told his rescuers “my daughter is gone, I’ve lost my daughter, I can’t find her”.

“I was devastated because I couldn’t see Krystal and the water was just so violent, and I just feared the worst straight away,” he said.

“There is just no way possible anyone could have survived that torrent.”

Lenny was taken back to the Thompson’s house for treatment, and then to Bundaberg Hospital.

As well as the medical episode in the water, Lenny suffered a fractured elbow, lost several teeth including one which became lodged in his lung, severe bruising, pneumonia and an overwhelming sense of guilt.

“I feel like I let her down,” Lenny said.

Pictured is the bridge Lenny and Krystal were stranded on when the flood waters began to rise. This was the centre of the search for Krystal.

“I kept promising her all the way through that we would be okay and someone would rescue us, and it didn’t happen.

“I would gladly swap my safety for hers.”

He said he owed Mrs Thompson his life for spotting him in the tree.

“I didn’t think I would survive,” he said.

“I’ve never been so scared in my life, and I can’t imagine how scared Krystal was.”

After he was winched to safety, the rescue helicopter scoured flood waters for Krystal.

It was the first attempt in what would become a three-week search through water, still 10m deep in some parts and in an area a senior police officer likened to a “war zone”.

Now living in Agnes Water with Krystal’s grandparents, Lenny still hasn’t given up on a miracle.

“I still have that hope, and hopefully she is out there somewhere, isolated somewhere on a property,” he said.

“I won’t give up that hope.”

He described Krystal as an “amazing child” with a passion for art, animals, and school.

She was about to start year nine at Echuca College, with a promising future as an anime cartoonist.

“She could sketch these things after just looking at a picture, and the level of detail was just amazing,” he said.

Lenny, who was a tattooist when he lived in Ballarat, said a love for art was something he and Krystal shared and bonded over.

“She had so much love to give; we were extremely close.”

Floodwaters in Maryborough. Picture: John Wilson

The search for Krystal was officially scaled back on January 21, but Lenny said he was beyond grateful for the amount of effort put in to find her.

“She had the world at her feet, she was my baby,” he said.

He also wanted to thank the numerous people involved in the search for Krystal, and the kind-hearted heroes who saved his life along with his family for their unwavering support, Goomeri police officer Sgt Dave Gillies who led the search for Krystal, every emergency service worker, Graeme Healy’s Wholesale Cars in Bundaberg for helping him with a new car, the Thompsons for saving his life, and the Bundaberg Hospital staff for caring for him after the series of traumatic events.

Krystal was officially listed as a missing person on January 26.

A GoFundMe started by Lenny’s sister-in-law and Krystal’s aunt has reached $10,015 at the time of publishing.

Click here to donate.

Originally published as ‘Hang onto me’: Tragic final words as daughter taken by ‘violent’ floods