Fingal hero
This weekend’s shoot is no small feat.
About 20 local cast and crew will be involved. A drone will capture images from the air and safety support will be on the water. Filming will take place away from the headland to avoid unnecessary danger.
Sensitivity will also be paramount.
“There will be no overdramatising, nothing to offend Josh and his family,” Markland said.
“I just want to show what happened, highlight the sacrifice Ryan made and how we can stop things like this happening in the future.”
THE HEARTACHE “As far as brothers go, you couldn’t get a better one,” Josh said of his only sibling.
“We grew up around the beach (at Currumbin) and did nippers so we were aware of rips. That’s why Ryan would have been the first in the water. He saw her being sucked out and knew what was happening.
“It was difficult to piece together everything that happened but hearing from people who were in the water with Ryan was mindblowing. He worked so hard to save that little girl’s life.”
In the wake of his brother’s death, Josh had an emotional meeting at Fingal with Rihanna, her parents and some of the men who helped save her life.
Then, last month on the anniversary of the tragedy, he received a phone call that still brings him to tears.
“The family rang to say they hadn’t forgotten Ryan, that they talk to Rihanna about him and still have his photo (on display),” an emotional Josh said.
“They said they know Rihanna is only here because of Ryan. It was nice to get that call.”
As you can guess, the word ‘blame’ is not in his family’s vocabulary.
“To do that would dimin- ish what Ryan did,” Josh said.“For whatever reason, that little girl was in trouble and he decided to save her life. Ultimately he sacrificed his life so she could live and we support his decision.
“They’ve thanked us for what Ryan did. That’s all you can hope for and I find it nice that Rihanna will grow up knowing he was her guardian angel.”