‘GLAD TO SEE YOU’
Family reunited with capsize survivor But hope is fading fast for his six missing workmates:
THE shaking and exhausted survivor from Queensland’s trawler tragedy gave his rescuers a hug after being plucked from the water and told them: “I’m just so glad to see you.”
Ruben McDornan spent hours treading water in rough seas with no life jacket, before passing catamaran On the Level spotted him floating kilometres from shore.
Speaking for the first time about saving Mr McDornan’s life, his rescuers said it was “pure luck” they crossed his path as they sought a safer location to ride out bad weather.
“He was tired, he was exhausted, he was shaking, he was dehydrated and adrenalin kept him going,” said one of his rescuers, Lyn.
An emotional Mr McDornan was reunited with his wife Sammy yesterday, sweeping her up in his arms at Gladstone airport after being flown in from Agnes Water on a rescue helicopter.
Six of his best friends remained missing, feared dead, with searchers saying it would be a miracle if any were found alive.
Desperate relatives refused to give up hope and yesterday chartered a vessel Saratoga to perform their own search around Town of 1770 where it is believed the trawler sank.
Four people were on the 38ft catamaran On the Level, heading to the Whitsundays.
At first, the catamaran passed without stopping. Panic-stricken, Mr McDornan started shouting.
As his rescuers approached Mr McDornan came in and out of view in waves of 2m-3m.
“He didn’t call at first because we went so close to him and he thought we saw him,” Lyn said.
“When we sailed past, he got upset then because we didn’t stop. But we were under sail, so you’ve got to pull your sail in.”
The trawler’s EPIRB had not gone off “so nobody knew the boat had been sunk. He was just so lucky’.
“He was just in our line of where we plotted to. He’s a fit young man, which kept him going, because they were rough waves.”
Another rescuer, Barry, said the seas were shocking with not a single other boat in sight.
“You could see him and then you couldn’t see him,” he said.
“One of us kept our eye on him all the time, which is the normal drill. I went and got the lifebuoy and rope., I threw it in and he grabbed it.
“He looked in quite good shape apart from very, very red eyes.” Mr McDornan “just wanted a hug”, and Barry gave him one.
Lyn said they had simply done what anyone would do, describing Mr McDornan as a “lovely man”.
“That’s what is the most upsetting part. He’s just this beautiful guy out in a fishing boat, doing what he loves doing and then this happens,” she said.
The search is moving into a recovery phase, with divers set to use sonar equipment today to search the seabed.
“It would be a miracle if we were to find someone alive,” Insp Darren Somerville said.
For the families of the other men, “reality has started to hit”. Search-and-rescue co-ordinator Sergeant Jeff Barnett said: “The time frame for survival ... has passed.”