"These kids got very lucky considering the rate of the rising water," a first responder who helped rescue the teenagers said
Credit: Queensland Police
NEED TO KNOW
- Three teens became trapped at a waterfall in northeastern Australia on Feb. 14
- This week, they were able to thank the first responders who rescued them by helicopter, with their failed expedition and rescue captured in a 39-minute video
- “We owe them everything, honestly,” said 14-year-old Amber Kukulies
Three teens have recounted how they were rescued after they became trapped at a waterfall in northeastern Australia.
On Monday, March 9, Reon Namba, Jacob Tait, both 16, and Amber Kukulies, 14, met up with the first responders who saved their lives and rescued them from Barron Falls in Queensland the month before, the Queensland Police said in a news release.
“I can’t even put it into words like, grateful that they put themselves at risk just to rescue us,” said Kukulies, per the release. “We owe them everything, honestly.”
Credit: Getty
On Feb. 14, the trio ventured to the 410-foot waterfall about 20 miles northwest of their home city of Cairns. The teens brought gear and food so they could hike to the waterfall and camp overnight, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) reported.
"It was daytime, and it was beautiful, and it didn't really seem to be dangerous at the time," Namba, who organized the trip, said at the March 9 reunion, according to the outlet. "But things turned bad pretty quickly."
When the teens began crossing a stream, the water quickly began to rise. At one point, the group found a reprieve from the roaring water on a small island, according to the outlet. In a 39-minute-long video of the failed expedition that Namba posted on YouTube, his friend, Tait, could be seen falling into the fast-moving current. Namba struggled to help Tait, but managed to bring him to safety.
“It’s looking pretty grim, I can’t lie,” Namba said in the video, adding that they almost went over the waterfall. “It’s not good, but I’m so grateful that me and Jacob are alive right now.”
The teens decided to monitor the rising water levels before calling for help as darkness descended, with Kukulies being the one who called Australia's emergency number after becoming "concerned" about the rising water level, per the release.
"The water's picked up and now there's tons of water flowing around us fairly rapidly," one of the teens could be heard saying on the phone in the video, later adding that a helicopter that a rescue team and helicopters were being sent to them.
The teens then filmed the helicopter flying above them before they were safely put on board, with one adding, "We're going to be in so much trouble … We've done some dumb s— but this is dumb as s—."
By 7:30 p.m. local time, police received a request for assistance from the three people, who were stranded on a rock, officials said. Multiple officers and two helicopters were deployed to the scene and the group was airlifted from the waterfall. The members of the hiking party were uninjured, police said.
Just two hours after they were transported to safety, Namba saw on live footage that the area where they had been camping had been completely overtaken by water, ABC reported.
"That's when we realised the least we could do is try and make sure [the rescuers] know we're thankful," he said, according to the outlet.
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After the dangerous rescue, the teens wrote letters to the first responders who saved them and later thanked them in person.
Such rescues during the region’s wet season are common, according to the police statement.
Credit: Getty
“If there’s creeks and it’s raining, odds are these situations can increase very quickly, I think these kids have a real appreciation of what that means,” said Senior Base Pilot Lawler of the Queensland Government Rescue 510.
Added Aircrew Officer Liam Carruthers, “Fortunately, on the night in question, these kids got very lucky considering the rate of the rising water.”
Read the full article here
