Kayaker’s body found by friends

CHRIS Dicker was having an idyllic break with his family on Saturday morning.

He was staying with his mum Debbie Williamson, her fiance Adrian van der Stok and 14-year-old sister Tahlia at the Tallebudgera Creek Tourist Park.

The Robina family thought it would be a nice idea to go camping locally, somewhere not too far from home.

Early on Saturday, Chris and Tahlia were playing in Tallebudgera Creek – Chris being the typical big brother and pushing his sister around in the water.

Ms Williamson commented on the Easter holiday snaps taken that day, writing: “Early start to the morning. Chris starting the day having an early morning kayak. Then Chris and Tahlia doing the same when they were young, Chris pushing Tahlia in the water, times never change.”

The family then spent the afternoon jumping off the bridge at Tallebudgera Creek.

The next day, about 7am, Chris got into the family’s grey kayak and paddled up the creek.

It was the last time he was seen alive.

“He left at 7am. I was watching the time when he went in,” Debbie said yesterday.

“Then 12pm came and I started to talk about it with my fiance and Tahlia.

“I approached the lifesavers and said ‘this may be just me overreacting ...’, but from the moment I approached everything was full-on go.

“I thought they were going to say to give it a few more hours, but they didn’t. They told me to take a seat and they would get straight on to it. 2

“Maybe I should have gone (to them) earlier, but I didn’t want to overreact.”

In the early afternoon the kayak was found on the west side of the Tallebudgera Creek bridge, near Kevin Gates Park, almost directly across from where the family had been staying.

It had a pair of scuffs, but no paddle.

It is still unknown if the kayak was washed ashore or if it had been dragged on to the sand.

Police released a statement to alert the public about 4pm, announcing they had launched a search operation.

Dozens of members from the public flocked to the creek to help locate Chris, who was a much-loved and committed member of the Gold Coast basketball and rugby league scene.

Members from the Burleigh Bears Rugby League Club, who he supported from the sideline and ran water during matches, helped search the nearby beaches, but failed to locate him before dark. Chris’ body found 50m west of bridge 6.20am yesterday. 1 Chris Dicker gets in kayak 7am Sunday.

“They rang Adrian yesterday. They didn’t care what we said, they said ‘we are coming to help’,” Ms Williamson said.

After a sleepless night, Ms Williamson and others headed out at dawn to continue the search.

Not long after, at 6.20am, she received the tragic news.

“As soon as there was sunlight I was out there. Everyone was out there again,” she said.

“It was our friends from the Burleigh Bears who found him.

“They put in their boat and found his body.

“It’s been heartbreaking.” Police said Chris’ body was found floating in the water, approximately 50m west of the bridge, in the middle of the creek.

Family suspect Chris had a seizure and drowned.

At 8.30am yesterday his body was loaded into a hearse. His family stood nearby, hugging and crying as his body was driven away.

A grieving Ms Williamson has now pledged to give her son “the biggest send-off”.