Families cling to hope
Wife stays positive as survivor is reunited
YOUNG Gold Coast mother Sharryn Sammut says she is still hoping for her husband’s “safe return” as the search for six missing men enters its fifth day.
Paradise Point cinematographer and diver Chris Sammut, 34, was with friends aboard the trawler Dianne when it oveturned in Bustard Bay, in central Queensland, on Monday night.
In a statement to the Bulletin, a tearful Mrs Sammut said: “We all just want to say Chris and the boys are strong, elite divers. If anyone can survive this it’s them. We’re hoping for a safe return and that we’ll see them all again soon.”
Mrs Sammut asked the media to respect her family’s privacy as it gets through its shocking ordeal.
Meanwhile, the shaking and exhausted survivor gave his rescuers a hug after being plucked from the water and told them: “I’m just so glad to see you.”
Ruben McDornan spent hours treading water in rough seas with no life jacket before passing catamaran On the Level spotted him floating kilometres from shore.
For the first time the Bulletin can reveal details of the miraculous survival story.
His rescuers said it was “pure luck” they crossed his path as they sought a safer location during bad weather.
“He was tired, he was exhausted, he was shaking, he was dehydrated and adrenaline kept him going,” one of his rescuers, Lyn, said.
An emotional Mr McDornan was reunited with his wife Sammy yesterday, sweeping her up in his arms at Gladstone airport after being flown in from Agnes Water on a rescue helicopter.
He was barefoot and limping, with police revealing he had been injured trying to get out of the trawler Dianne when it overturned.
Six of his best friends – Mr Sammut, Ben Leahy, Eli Tonks, Adam Bidner, Adam Hoffman and Zach Feeney – remained missing, feared dead, with searchers saying it would be “a miracle” if any were discovered alive.
Desperate relatives refused to give up hope and yesterday chartered a vessel, Saratoga, to search around Bustard Bay where it is believed the trawler sank.
Four people were on the 38ft catamaran On the Level, heading to the Whitsundays.
After anchorage problems at 1770, they were on their way north to Pancake Creek on Tuesday morning when they passed within a few metres of Mr McDornan.
At first the catamaran passed without stopping. Panic-stricken, he started shouting. But he had been seen by those on the vessel, who hastily turned around.
“He was just so lucky. He was just in our line of where we plotted to,” Lyn said.
Another of his rescuers, Barry, said the seas were tossing and turning with not a single other boat in sight.
“You could see him and then you couldn’t see him.
“One of us kept our eye on him all the time, which is the normal drill. I went and got the lifebuoy and rope, I threw it in and he grabbed it.”Mr McDornan “just wanted a hug”, and Barry gave him one.
“That young man, he would have lost his life in another hour or so. (It was) pure luck and we knew what to do,” Lyn said.
For the families of the other men, “reality has started to hit”.
Search and rescue co-ordinator Sergeant Jeff Barnett said: “The time frame for survival ... has passed.”