Child among deceased after horror 48 hours in Victorian waters
It’s been a horror 24 hours across Victorian waterways, with three people dead, including a child, and nearly 150 pulled from the water.
Environment
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Three people have died and nearly 150 more have been pulled from the water over the course of just 24 hours, despite a mother’s tragic warning on the dangers of the ocean.
After sighting her son’s “body floating like a starfish” at a Mornington Peninsular beach last summer, Chloe Freeman had a simple message: “Remain aware of the dangers that surround your kids in the water.”
Despite Mrs Freeman’s warning, the following 24 hours saw lifeguards overwhelmed across the state’s beaches, with three tragic deaths in just two days and 145 rescues on Saturday alone.
Just hours after Mrs Freeman shared her story through Ambulance Victoria, another family found themselves living the same nightmare, only this time there would be no happy ending.
The family was plunged into anxiety when their eight-year-old son went missing around 11.20am in the Mitchell River near Cobbannah in East Gippsland.
After an extensive police search from both the ground and air, that anxiety turned to unimaginable grief when the boy was found dead in the water at about 2.50pm.
Meanwhile on the state’s beaches, life guards were already responding to a noticable uptick in non-fatal drownings, including a 15-year-old girl in Torquay who was taken to hospital in Geelong after coming into trouble around noon.
Saturday proved even busier, with life guards conducting 145 rescues across the state’s beaches.
Tragedy first struck at 10.15am when a man was pulled dead from the water after suffering a medical emergency at the Mornington Peninsula’s Gunnamatta Beach.
Then at 2.30pm, a jet ski’s collision with a boat sent three people flying into the water at Safety Beach, with one sustaining serious injuries.
A second jet ski incident in Rye saw a man pulled unresponsive from the ocean in Rye, with CPR failing to save his life.
Driven by the heatwave conditions slamming the state this weekend, two mass rescues were also performed with nine pulled from the water in Portsea and ten in Jan Juc.
With Sunday also reaching a max temperature of 38C, the life guards who on Saturday saved 145 lives braced for another horror day.
Speaking to NewsWire, state agency commander, Kane Treloar said it was really impressive that life guards were able to perform 145 rescues on Saturday given they had only performed 110 over the entire season up to that point.
Mr Treloar added that he “can’t remember,” a time in the last 20 years when crews were as busy as they were Saturday.
“My advice to swimmers is that everyone has a responsibility to take care of each other and make sure everyone comes home safe.”, he added.
“The best way to do that is to head to the Beach Safe website so you can find a safe place to swim, and where possible always swim between the flags.”
Originally published as Child among deceased after horror 48 hours in Victorian waters
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