An afternoon float turned nightmare after children trapped under river

Heroic teenagers brought a child back to life and saved one other after two kids were swept away in dangerous waters while swimming at a creek in Far North Queensland.

Heroic teenagers brought a child back to life and saved one other after two kids were swept away in dangerous waters while swimming at a creek in Far North Queensland.

Lifelong friends Angus Lane, Molly Jenkins and Zac Parker, all 19, were floating down Freshwater Creek last month when they heard screams for help from the river bank.

Angus Lane said he and his friends were approaching a notorious stretch of the creek near a small bridge when they heard a mum in distress.

“This mum started screaming ... screaming for someone to help,” Mr Lane said.

Molly Jenkins, Angus Lane and Zac Parker were all swimming together near The Rocks at Freshwater Creek, when they noticed some younger children in trouble at a nearby causeway that was blocked by sticks and debris from recent flooding. The trio of teens pulled the young boys from the turbulent water and performed CPR on one of the boys before help arrived, saving his life. Picture: Brendan Radke

It is understood two friends aged 9 and 10, who have not been named for privacy reasons, were on boogie boards when they were swept down the river and became trapped under the bridge.

The father of one the boys who wished to remain anonymous said he was grateful for the teenagers quick-thinking.

“We almost lost two boys that day,” the father said.

“I can’t thank the two boys and lady enough for what they did.

“It has been a traumatic experience for all of us.”

The teens said they didn’t hesitate to help.

“Me [Angus], Zac and Molly have all gone running down to the bridge … and jumped in,” Mr Lane said.

“We couldn’t touch the bottom, we couldn’t touch anything and we’re just holding on to this bridge.”

The two children had disappeared, leaving only a bobbing boogie board above the racing water.

Angus Lane was floating n Freshwater Creek with friends when they noticed two younger children in trouble at a causeway near The Rocks that was blocked by sticks and debris from recent flooding. The trio of teens pulled the young boys from the turbulent water, with Angus performing CPR on one of the boys before help arrived, saving his life. Picture: Brendan Radke

The teenagers choose to take turns lowering themselves and kicking around to feel something resembling a person.

“I’ve gone under and felt this kid grab my foot so I’ve pulled myself up … and Zac and I have pulled him out of the water,” Mr Lane said.

“We keep going under [for the second child], I turned and saw Molly gasping for air, trying to pull herself out because she’s just been sucked under herself.

“We’ve gone under probably 10, 15 times by now … at this point we weren’t confident at all … we were just exhausted by then.”

After pulling themselves out of the water with the help of three passing 16 year olds, Mr Lane said he was able to lift the second child up by his boogie board.

“I’ve grabbed this kid’s bungee cord and just started yanking him, just trying to pull him out from underneath,” Mr Lane said.

“It felt like I was going to break his arm because I was pulling him up against the current.

After being under water for at least 2 minutes the nine-year-old child was pulled out unconscious.

Mr Parker said he was still in shock when the boy surfaced.

“We were feeling around for quite some time, and to be honest, I thought he was gone,” Mr Parker said.

“He was just lifeless … just blue.

“We were only just talking about how good life was at the moment … and then next thing that happened was this.”

After starting CPR the child came back to life in what Mr Parker described as a state of confusion and terror.

“He started moving his arm, and then slowly started coming back, and then just started screaming,” Mr Parker said.

The two children were funneled under the bridge downstream from the popular Redlynch swimming hole 'The rocks.' Mr Lane said because of recent rainfalls, the waterline had raised up to the very lip of the bridge.

Despite the dramatic scenes the two children were treated by Queensland Ambulance Service for relatively minor injuries, with one child spending overnight in hospital.

A month on from the ordeal which happened on February 9, Mr Lane was still recovering after being admitted to hospital and eventually taken into surgery, with an infected knee..

“It [knee] was weeping … by Thursday the redness started to spread through my leg … they cut my knee open, cleaned it up properly cut away dead tissue,” Mr Lane said.

The teen believes CPR and first-aid should be taught in schools.

“We don’t get taught that at school and I was the only person there that knew CPR,” Mr Lane said.

Originally published as An afternoon float turned nightmare after children trapped under river