Injured fisho’s long trek
A BURDEKIN fisherman had to walk over a kilometre for treatment from remote Cape Upstart after his hand was pierced by a stingray’s barb.
The incident has reignited calls for better access to the popular fishing and camping location between the Burdekin and Bowen.
Cape Upstart is only accessible by boat at high tide because of the area’s shallow waters.
Jaidyn Lambie- Fabbro was removing a stingray from a WITH only two weeks left in the same- sex marriage survey, young people have been urged to get their votes in or they won’t be counted.
Thousands of people who attended a rally in Melbourne yesterday in support of samesex marriage were told to get on to their friends and family to ensure they voted.
Data shows people aged 18 to 35 have not returned their ballots in the same numbers as older age groups.
“Make sure you put ( your ballot) in the post, because unless you’ve posted you haven’t voted,” equality campaign cochair Anna Brown told reporters yesterday.
She urged them to get ballots in before October 27 to make sure they arrived before the November 7 cut- off date.
“There’s only a week left to get that ballot in the mail. This is the home stretch,” she said.
The rally saw thousands march through the rain in Melbourne’s CBD to a free concert featuring Spiderbait.
Ms Brown said a “yes” vote would go a long way to promoting acceptance of Australia’s LGBTQI community.
More than 70 per cent of forms have already been returned and Equality Campaign executive director Tiernan Brady was confident most Australians would back changing the Marriage Act. fishing net when its barb pierced his hand between his thumb and forefinger.
As the incident happened at low tide, he was forced to walk over a kilometre across the foreshore to get to an ambulance.
Mr Lambie- Fabbro said the situation could have been worse if someone who was unable to make the trek to medical help was injured.
“In the moment it was definitely a bit of a struggle,” he said.
“I’m a pretty casual person so when it happened I just pulled the barb out.”
Mr Lambie- Fabbro almost continued on his fishing trip with friends before he realised the burning sensation and pain was starting to travel up arm and across his chest.
“That’s when I knew it was bad,” he said.
Mr Lambie- Fabbro, who spends almost every second weekend at the popular fishing his spot, said all- tide access should have been completed years ago in the interest of safety.
“The only way people are going to stand up and take notice is if stuff like this does happen,” he said.
“It’s time, hopefully people will do something about it.”
Molongle Creek Boat Club member Joe Linton has been lobbying for all- tide access to Cape Upstart for 30 years, and said Mr Lambie- Fabbro’s injury highlighted the potential risks.
“The good part about this one, and I’m sure he ( Jaidyn) wasn’t thinking it was good at the time, is that it wasn’t lifethreatening like a heart attack, a jellyfish sting, an injury from a boat or any other issue,” Mr Linton said.
“When you’ve got a large number of people that frequent Cape Upstart, there’s always more and more potential for an incident to occur.”
There are about properties at Cape Upstart, with about 15,000 vessel movements to the cape per year with only part- tide access.
“Even though we do have an emergency helicopter service out of Townsville, there have been times when they’ve been unavailable,” he said.
Burdekin MP Dale Last said he had been working with the Molongle Creek Boat Club and the Cape Upstart Progress Association, and was committed to having the all- tide access facility delivered.
“This recent incident highlights the need for an all- tide access point at this locality, and there has been a lot of work undertaken in preparation for this project to proceed,” he said.