ET hit hard by trawler tragedy
A DISTRAUGHT Andrew “ET” Ettingshausen says he has been so rocked by the tragic death of the “ultimate crew” that saved his life that he has felt insecure on the water since.
Speaking for the first time since the Dianne slug boat sank, killing six crew in October, the former rugby league legend and veteran fishing show host said he was struggling to comprehend how the experienced crew had died.
Ettingshausen said he owed his life to Dianne’s skipper Ben Leahy, who fed him oxygen after his regulator failed 30m underwater while filming a Discovery Channel documentary with the crew three years ago.
“I still can’t believe it. It’s so tragic,” he said. “Ben, really, he saved my life up there. It wasn’t real good. At one stage, I’d almost said goodbye to my family. Ben came to my rescue and I was able to make it to the top in the end.”
Police divers recovered the bodies of Mr Leahy and Adam Hoffman from the sunken vessel off the central Queensland coast, from which Ruben McDornan was the sole survivor. Adam Bidner, Zachary Feeney, Gold Coaster Chris Sammut and Eli Tonks have not been found.
“It was just unbelievable to hear that they could possibly capsize. I just couldn’t believe it because I had been on the boat and knew how stringent they were with all their processes,” Ettingshausen said.
“Their whole lives were out there on the Reef, basically fishing and diving every day.
“Even when I go out on the water now I’ve just got that, I don’t know, I feel even more insecure because these guys were the ultimate crew and skipper.”