An expert has warned of the hidden dangers of swimming at waterfalls following the tragic deaths of two teenagers at a popular swimming spot.
Honor Ward, 17, slipped and failed to resurface at Wappa Falls on last Sunday afternoon.
Her friend Beau Liddell, 17, jumped into the water to save her but also failed to resurface.
Emergency services later found their bodies in the water.
The deaths have devastated the Sunshine Coast community, with friends and family of the teens remembering the pair as caring and kind.
The teens’ friend, Kaylee, watched the pair slip away in front of her, posting on social media of the emptiness she has felt after losing them.
“I couldn’t reach (Honor) in time, couldn’t pull her from the water, and it’s suffocating, knowing I couldn’t save her when she needed me most,” she wrote on Instagram.
“Thankyou Beau … you didn’t hesitate, didn’t think twice, just got in when she needed someone.
“I’ll carry both of you with me forever.”
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Honor’s friends have paid tribute to her shine, energy and drive to make life fun for those around her.
“She had a way of making me laugh so much I couldn’t breathe … every where she went she spread such a positive, loving energy, that’s absence will be felt everywhere,” friend Bellamoe Amato Ali posted on Facebook.
Beau’s father, Adam, said the 17-year-old was never one to stand back, while another family member remembered him as a kind-hearted kid.
“You never quite realised how precious life was and how much you would be missed if you left us,” another family member posted on Instagram.
A GoFundMe set up to help Beau’s family with a funeral has raised more than $28,000.
“When hearts are hurting, we look to all the ways we can help, and at the moment this family needs to fund a funeral, and, manage life after the tragic loss of a beautiful, fun, and spicey young man,” said Sharon Evans, mother of Beau’s friend Jaz.
James Cook University Professor of Public Health Richard Franklin said the tragic deaths served to warn others of the hidden dangers of waterfalls.
Figures by Royal Life Saving Australia from 2022-23 reveal there were 76 deaths at rivers or waterfalls versus 75 at beaches across Australia.
The agency also estimates that around 5 per cent of drownings in inland water sources took place at waterfalls or swimming holes over the 10 years to 2021.
Prof Franklin said popular swimming locations often had potentially fatal hazards, such as slippery rocks, unexpected currents and turbulent water.
Waterfalls could be particularly dangerous when cascading water carved out a deep pool, known as a plunge pool.
“Where the waterfall hits the pool, it creates turbulence and currents,” he said.
“If large volumes of water are falling, the pressure can be enough to push people underneath.
“Currents can also carry people underneath a rock ledge and trap them.”
Prof Franklin said droplets and mist from the falls meant the rocky sides were inevitably slippery and often covered in algae or moss.
Waterfalls and rivers were also not supervised by lifeguards so it could take hours for help to arrive if something went wrong.
He urged waterfall swimmers to check for dangers before getting into the water.
