A doctor who was mauled to death by a crocodile let go of his wife’s hand as she tried to save him so she wouldn’t be dragged into the water with him.
Dave Hogbin, 40, was walking along the Annan River, south of Cooktown in Far North Queensland, with his wife, Jane, and their three children Isaac, 7, Max, 5, and Joey, 3, on August 2 when the bank collapsed.
Mr Hogbin was sent tumbling into the river and a nearby crocodile attacked.
Ms Hogbin heard a splash and rushed down the bank to try and pull her husband from the water.
However, the bank was so steep and slippery she was only able to grab his arm and risked falling into the water herself.
Amid the horrific attack and rescue attempt, Mr Hogbin said his final words to his wife: ‘Stop, you’re falling in too.’
‘It’s all still so surreal, kind of the position that he was in,’ Ms Hogbin told the Courier Mail on Sunday.
‘The danger that I was in and that one of us got to walk away from it.’
Dave Hogbin (pictured) was mauled to death by a crocodile after falling from a riverbank in Far North Queensland
Mr Hogbin’s wife, Jane (pictured together with their three sons), revealed he released her hand while she tried to pull him away from the crocodile, saving her life
The family-of-five had set out from Newcastle, in Newcastle, and were on a month-long holiday caravanning around the Sunshine State when the attack unfolded.
Isaac, Max and Joey were with their parents when their father fell down the river bank but were shielded from the attack by their aunt and uncle.
Ms Hogbin and their three sons two weeks ago faced their first Father’s Day without Mr Hogbin.
He had been a dedicated adventurer and amazing father, Ms Hogbin recalled.
The family had routinely gone on caravanning trips every fortnight, which Mr Hogbin loved to meticulously plan and prepare.
It had been his dream to travel to Far North Queensland.
Ms Hogbin has decided to keep all the family’s caravanning and camping equipment, but hasn’t been able to bring herself to go on a trip without her husband.
The couple were married for 10 years and together for 13.
They met after Ms Hogbin moved into his parent’s Central Coast home for university accommodation.
Both later laughed about the fact Ms Hogbin had lived with Mr Hogbin’s sister and parents ‘before (she) even met him’.
Ms Hogbin described her sons as resilient as they work to find the ‘new normal’ since their father’s death.
The more than $160,000 raised for the family has allowed Ms Hogbin to support their children through the death of their father (pictured, a crocodile being fed near the attack site shortly after Mr Hogbin’s death)
While Father’s Day was a difficult time for them, the boys had the full support of their extended family with their uncles attending school events with them.
Ms Hogbin is still working towards bringing herself to look at photos of Mr Hogbin.
‘What really devastates me is that he was such a wonderful father and his boys absolutely worshipped him, and I’m so heartbroken for them that they won’t have much memory of who their dad was to them,’ she said.
Ms Hogbin is extremely grateful for the more than $160,000 raised through a GoFundMe campaign for her family.
It has given her the flexibility to take time off work while her family works through their grief.
‘I know the boys have certainly appreciated that… If they’re having a bad day at school I can just pick them up straight away and we can be together,’ she said.
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