Pregnant Holloways Beach mum and toddler rescued by surf life savers
A pregnant mother and toddler trapped on a bed in their Holloways Beach home have been rescued by Surf Life Savers.
Cairns
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A nine-month pregnant mother said she was ‘eternally grateful’ to the two surf lifesavers who saved her and her two year-old daughter from rapidly rising flood waters in their Holloways Beach home.
Single mother Penny Fenner and her daughter Malia had been watching Frozen as fast rising flood waters entered their home after the Barron River flooded on Sunday.
“We got onto my bed and I tried to make calls to SES and Triple 0 as the water got higher and the bed started floating with us on it,” Ms Fenner said.
“I got panicky as I’d called the SES for a rescue but they’d said it may take some time because they had a lot of rescues to do. I called Triple 0 and they also said it might take some time and could I climb on higher furniture or the roof?”
At nine months pregnant, wrangling a wriggly toddler, climbing was out of the question.
As flood waters continued to rise, Ms Fenner turned to Facebook in desperation.
“I put up a plea for help on a Holloways community page if anyone had a dingy or something to get us to higher ground. Shortly after that I heard somebody at the front calling to ask if we needed help. I burst into tears when I heard that,” she said.
Neighbours from her street, whom she had never met before, saw her Facebook post before sighting two lifeguards on kayaks and called out to them for help.
“They were amazing. They floated us to the other end of the street where these neighbours were,” she said.
“They lived in a two-storey townhouse and had very little themselves but asked us to come in. We’d never met them before but they had two dry bedrooms, two tins of tuna, crackers and mangoes but they insisted we eat. They got us through the night safely and dryly.”
Further issues plagued the young families in the morning as they were left with no power, water or internet and no way out of town.
“My sister had arranged a hotel room ready for us to escape to the next day, but we couldn’t find a way out. The people that were helping us had no food either and limited supplies,” she said.
Eventually, Ms Fenner was able to contact her sister who told her navy and SES crews were ferrying residents out of Holloways.
Another neighbour with a 4WD took Ms Fenner and Mahlia to Wistaria Street where they were put on a boat to Cairns.
Now at her sister’s house in Kuranda, Ms Fenner, whose baby is due on January 10, said she hoped to give Mahlia a ‘normal’ Christmas.
“I think she’s still subconsciously processing everything. It’s a lot for a two-year-old to go through so we’re trying to make things as normal and light as we can for her.”
“I’m eternally grateful to the lifeguards who came with their kayaks. If I’d fallen asleep and Malia entered the water, I hate to think what could have happened. They saved our lives,” she said.
A GoFundMe page has been set up for the family.
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Originally published as Pregnant Holloways Beach mum and toddler rescued by surf life savers
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