Ulladulla family ‘affected daily’ after seeing Dreamworld tragedy

Bree Dedini and her family had what some might call a miraculous escape from death in the 2016 Dreamworld disaster — but it has destroyed their lives. The couple and their kids were directly in front of the death raft and part of the collision that led to the tragedy.

• Dreamworld: ‘It’s impossible to comprehend’
• ‘Mum died in husband’s arms as kids watched on in horror’

Bree Dedini and her family had what some might call a miraculous escape from death in the 2016 Dreamworld disaster — but it has destroyed their lives.

Ms Dedini, her husband Steven Apthorp and their two children were not just on the Thunder Rapids River Ride that day, they were directly in front of the death raft and part of the collision that led to the tragedy.

While they escaped death, what the family saw and heard that terrible day has haunted them ever since.

Now both Ms Dedini and Mr Apthorp, who have separated, are suing Dreamworld’s parent company Ardent Leisure in the NSW Supreme Court.

Steven Apthorp and Bree Dediniand, pictured with their two kids, were on the Thunder Rapids River Ride where they witnessed the deaths of four people.

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Mr Apthorp and Ms Dedini declined to comment when approached by The Sunday Telegraph this week.

However, their statement of claim contains many unspoken horrors within its dry, legal language.

Mr Apthorp claims the force of the collision saw both rafts raise up to a 75 degree angle.

He called out to the ride attendant and “told her to activate the emergency stop. However, the ride attendant did not do this”.

The rafts fell. Theirs landed safely, the other flipped, killing Cindy Low, Kate Goodchild, her brother Luke Dorsett and his partner Roozi Araghi.

They suffered injuries so terrible they cannot be reported.

Mr Apthorp told his wife to get their children to safety and went to try and help.

All of them “witnessed scenes of traumatic injury”, according to their statement of claim. And looking away would not have blocked out the terrible sounds of what happened, either.

According to their statement of claims, filed in the Supreme Court, both claim to now suffer from a “recognised psychiatric illness” and post-traumatic stress disorder because of the incident.

The PTSD “continues to affect” their daily lives.

It would be only natural for them to question the chain of events that led them to be on the ride directly in front of the death raft.

Victims of the disaster: Kate Goodchild. Picture: AAP Image/Supplied

Cindy Low.

Kate Goodchild’s brother Luke Dorsett and his partner Roozi Araghi.

Any of a hundred tiny decisions would have changed what happened that day.

The family from Ulladulla had driven to the Gold Coast on holiday and spent the morning enjoying other rides when they made the fateful decision to join the line for the Thunder Rapids ride.

What if they had gone to get something to eat first? If they had tried another ride? What if they had been able to get the emergency stop activated? What if their raft had been the one that flipped?

Argent Leisure lodged a defence statement with the court that admits the South Coast couple suffered a psychiatric injury but disputes the extent of ongoing PTSD.

Ardent Leisure has also denied it was negligent.

Mr Apthorp and Ms Dedini claim they both now suffer from a “recognised psychiatric illness” and post-traumatic stress disorder. Picture: AAP Image/Dan Peled

The memorial outside Dreamworld days after the tragic incident. Picture: Glenn Hampson

A six-week inquest into the disaster at Queensland’s Southport Courthouse was told of a litany of failures from Dreamworld.

This included that operators were unaware different emergency stop buttons had different halt times and that no risk assessments had been done on the ride.

The inquest concluded in December and is expected to reveal its report and recommendation this year.

On Friday the Supreme Court heard Ms Dedini had settled out of court with Dreamworld and the matter was adjourned to March 1, when it is expected to be formalised.

Mr Apthorp was ordered by the court to attend an informal settlement conference before May 31 and his matter was adjourned until June 1.

Originally published as Ulladulla family ‘affected daily’ after seeing Dreamworld tragedy