Father’s heart aches for lost son
A GRIEVING father’s desperate search for answers continues over the death of his son who drowned on the Hobart waterfront last year, as he fears someone else will die if safety improvements are not made.
Jarrod Davies died, aged 27, in February 2020 after a night out at Hobart’s waterfront district.
He was found deceased in the River Derwent in the early hours of February 9 after he was last seen alive heading towards Elizabeth Street Pier.
A coronial inquest is set to be held into the deaths of Mr Davies, a South Gippsland diving instructor, and Melbourne cardiothoracic trainee Robert Bo Xu, who died in an separate incident three months earlier.
But a date has not yet been set, continuing an agonising wait for parents Rob and Jill Davies as they grieve their son.
Mr Davies had received a call from his dazed and disoriented son just moments before his death, staggering along the waterfront as the result of an alleged nightclub attack.
“We’re suffering like hell,’’ Mr Davies said.
“I’ve lost my only son. My best mate. I don’t want the tragedy of my son to disappear for Hobart people.”
Mr Davies said his daughter Jessica, Jarrod’s sister, had flown to Hobart earlier this year and placed a plaque in memory of Jarrod near the spot where he was last seen.
Mr Davies maintains security arrangements need to improve along the waterfront to better protect people.
“If it can save another three or four lives, it will be worth it,’’ he said.
Just weeks after Mr Davies’ son’s death, the actions of quick-thinking passers-by were credited with saving a man rescued from the water.
A 21-year-old man had fallen into the water at the end of Elizabeth Street Pier and was struggling, with volunteers from the Salvation Army Street Team rushing to his aid.
The incidents raised questions about safety hazards at the waterfront, with the possibility of measures such as barriers or fences.
“TasPorts takes community safety within Hobart’s Sullivans Cove precinct very seriously,’’ TasPorts executive general manager Kate Dean said.
“Given this matter is before the coroner, it would be inappropriate for TasPorts to make comment at this point in time.”