Fishing Tragedy: Boy Sees His Father Die

[Chris 55]

After reading a couple of reports on this story it may be as simple as the boat filling with water to a point of no return .............. makes you wonder if the bunge plugs were in

Heroic effort by the father to keep his son from drowning

A FIVE-YEAR-OLD boy saw his father drown after their boat capsized during a fishing trip on the Far North Coast.

Louis Staunton was face down in the water and had stopped breathing when he was plucked from the Tweed River last Thursday by an off-duty nurse, who gave him first aid.

The body of the boy's 35-year-old father, Sean Staunton, was not found until yesterday morning.

"When Louis came to, he said, 'Mummy, I have something to tell you,' " said the boy's mother, Gemma Hurditch. "He said Sean had paddled a really long way with him on his back. Louis told me about seeing Sean drown.

"He said he just closed his eyes and went under. I think he either died from exhaustion or had a heart attack from the panic of it all."

Louis was found about 100 metres away from a boat ramp at Chinderah, near Tweed Heads.

Mr Staunton's body was found nearby about 7am yesterday.

Ms Hurditch, 28, said she had a "gut feeling" her former partner was dead when news of the boating accident broke on Thursday.

"I knew if it was Louis, and I had a sense of dread that it was, that Sean was dead because Sean would never leave Louis. I knew he was gone."

Ms Hurditch said Mr Staunton usually made certain his son wore a lifejacket on their regular fishing trips and "it was an uncanny coincidence that the day he didn't was the day this happened".

"Louis can't remember exactly why but [the boat] filled up with water and then it tipped over," Ms Hurditch said.

"[Louis] was on Sean like a surfboard to keep him out of the water, to try to keep him warmer.

"I am really proud of Sean. He did everything he could to save Louis."

Ms Hurditch, who shared custody of Louis after separating from Mr Staunton about 12 months ago, said they remained "best friends" despite living apart.

"I am grateful that things turned out the best we could have hoped for regarding Louis but I'm really sad that his dad's not around," she said.

"I hope Louis will carry the memories that Sean was such a supportive and playful dad.

"Sean was kind, generous and good for the sake of being good; you would not meet a person with a more

generous and loving spirit."

[flatty hunter626]

shit! . i feel so sorry for the family.....but what a father to lose his life to save his son!.

[pelican]

Very sad and hope the young bloke is a trooper and can get on in life.

Really weird if this is the one I saw on the news as they found the blokes boat up 40 feet in the mangroves with the motor missing so someone did something with the boat after the tragedy.

Good luck to the tough little tacker and congrats to the ex for not bagging him out.

[brother of tang]

condolences to the family, what a dad he was by the sound of the ex-wifes statement. What a damn shame a father and son fishing trip turned into a tragedy like this. He obviously did everything in his power to save his son.

Edited July 10, 2008 by hookenup

[Dreamtime]

Very sad indeed.

Really hits home to those of us with small children.

PFDs should be worn, not stowed.