A helicopter was able to winch the tourist and one lifesaver to safety, but Ross and Andy Powell died at the scene. Image: 9 News/Screenshot
A father and son are dead after a rescue attempt went wrong near Australia’s Great Ocean Road. Ross Powell, 71, and his son Andy, 32, were volunteers with the Port Campbell Life Saving Club.
At just before 11 a.m. the Life Saving Club responded to a tourist who found himself in trouble during a swim in rough waters near the mouth of the Sherbrook River. Ross and Andy, along with another volunteer lifesaver, attempted to rescue the victim using a 20-foot inflatable rigid-hulled vessel. The boat flipped in the rough swell, sending all three rescuers into the water.
The boat flipped, sending all three lifesavers into the water.
Emergency services responded quickly with a helicopter and winched both the tourist and the third rescuer to safety, but were unable to save the Powells. The tourist was taken to Warrnambool Hospital, where he is recovering from hypothermia.
A search for the Powells recovered their bodies soon after. They were declared dead at the scene. “We could see bodies floating and my wife was on the phone all the time she was quite distressed,” Ian McCauley, who was in the area with his wife, told the Herald Sun. “We walked to the gorge where the bodies were. The swell was severe and they were rescuing close to the swell and where it was breaking. It was fierce when the waves were breaking against the sides of the cliffs. That was throwing up spouts 20 to 30 meters high.”
The Powells, who were dairy farmers, were a big part of the close-knit community they called home. “Andy was the apple of his father’s eye,” Corangamite Shire Council Mayor Neil Trotter said to The Australian. “Over the coming days I think the community will come together and support each — it’s a shocking loss.”
