Couple stranded in Qld outback for three days, stalked by crocodile

A missing couple have been rescued after they were stranded for three days in the outback enduring 40C days and nights stalked by a large crocodile.

A missing couple and their two dogs spent three days stranded in remote North West Queensland, enduring 40-degree days and nights stalked by a large crocodile.

The couple in their 50s attempted to drive across a river crossing at Clark Creek when a “wall of water” swept their 4WD into crocodile-infested flood waters last week.

They climbed out of the passenger window to escape and swam to the bank.

Left without phones or food, the couple drank water from the river and scribbled “SOS” in the dirt.

A missing couple thought they were going to die after spending three days stranded in North West Queensland. Picture: LifeFlight

They thought they were going to die until LifeFlight pilots Michael Adair and Mark Overton showed up on Saturday.

A friend reported the couple had not arrived at Kowanyama after leaving Normanton on Thursday, but Queensland Police could not reach the missing husband and wife because of the flooded roads.

The rescue crew said the couple’s first words were, “Thank God you’re here”.

The husband and wife had scribbled “SOS” in the dirt. Picture: LifeFlight

Mr Adair, now a Mount Isa-based LifeFlight pilot, only arrived in Australia from New Zealand on Tuesday, and Saturday’s 10-hour mission was his first helicopter rescue in the country.

He said the look on the man and woman’s faces when they realised they were not going to die was the reason he is in the rescue industry.

“The wife told us she had been hearing voices in the bush from exposure and had convinced herself that nobody was coming to help them, so she was very emotional when we hugged her,” he said.

He said she needed that touch to know she wasn’t imagining them and was actually going to be saved.

Four rescue crew, two patients and two dogs were crammed into the helicopter. Picture: LifeFlight

Mr Overton said the couple were moving from Normanton to Kowanyama and everything they owned was in the 4WD that was washed away.

“Unfortunately because the water had come up so quickly, it shorted out the electric windows. They were trapped in the vehicle as it was sinking,” he explained.

“The husband described it as extremely scary, as I imagine it would have been, and the only thing that worked was the passenger window on the wife’s side wound down a little bit and they managed to get out.

“He had to swim back down and grab the dogs and pull them out as the vehicle was sinking.”

The husband was an ex-navy diver and had some survival training under his belt. They decided to stay near the river where their car had last been instead of wandering off, and the decision paid off.

The couple got sick from drinking the muddy creek water and were covered in bug bites. Picture: LifeFlight

The couple were driving on the Burke Developmental Road crossing the Clark Creek when a wave of water washed their 4WD off the road. Picture: LifeFlight

The couple said they made a makeshift shelter out of branches and leaves away from the bank but were stalked by a large crocodile local to the area.

“The husband had to scare him off a couple of times at night,” Mr Overton said.

The couple had been attacked by bugs and the muddy river water they drank made them sick.

Queensland Ambulance Service flight paramedics treated them for dehydration and exposure. They were then taken to Normanton Hospital.

“It was a bit of a clown car trying to get six people and two dogs into a three and a half tonne helicopter, but we did it and they were pretty relieved,” Mr Overton said.

Rescue pilot Michael Adair only arrived in Australia from New Zealand on Tuesday and Saturday’s 10-hour mission was his first helicopter rescue in the country. Picture: LifeFlight

The Brisbane-based LifeFlight pilot had been in Mount Isa with Mr Adair to take him through his final assessments.

“Mike is used to flying in a completely different environment and we’ve thrown him into the middle of the outback and on his first job he’s been sent to the middle of nowhere,” Mr Overton said.

“The distance we had to travel to get from Mount Isa to north of Nomanton up near Kowanyama was very, very fast and just the scale difference between New Zealand and Australia was huge.”

The pilots flew 300 nautical miles and were in the air for about six hours.