Flood heroes need a hand
Boat used to rescue stranded families in December requires repairs
The Cairns community is rallying behind two brothers whose boat is in need of major repairs after it was used to save more than 100 people from the northern beaches flood.
When Tropical Cyclone Jasper flooding hit Far North Queensland in December, Ricky and Jarrod Mellor jumped in their boat and saved dozens of people trapped on rooftops.
The brothers navigated fallen powerlines and other debris, remarkably getting through the two-day rescue effort unharmed.
But their boat suffered significant damage that led to engine failure while the men were out fishing recently.
Their friend Jordan Oliver has launched a fundraiser with a $20,000 goal to cover the cost of a new engine, saying “they’d be the first people to jump up and help out” if disaster struck again. “They took their own boat and acted on instinct straight away to help the community out,” he said. “At the time they didn’t want any gratitude or anything they just wanted to make sure the community was safe. It would be nice to just do something back for these fellas to help them out.
“What better way (to help) these fellas, if they’ve touched anyone or their story’s touched anyone.
“Even a dollar to try get them back out on to the water.”
Ricky Mellor said he and Jarrod had already spent thousands of dollars on repairing the 7m boat, which was at times moored to people’s roofs.
“A lot of people offered us some help (at the time) but we thought we could manage it ourselves,” he said.
“We said thank you to everybody but told them to redirect funds to people who were actually in need.
“The boat’s a spare thing for us, it’s not somebody’s house.
“But I am gutted, it’s my pride and joy with my brother and we put a lot of money into the boat.”
Mr Mellor said he and Jarrod had been blown away by the recognition and support they had received so far, including from Liborio Hernandez of LG Automotive and Dyno who had offered to work on the boat’s repair.