A couple who were ‘stalked’ by a crocodile while stranded in floodwaters in the outback say they’re lucky to be alive as they relived the terrifying ordeal.
Tony and Lisa Fogg were finally whisked to safety by rescuers three days after their 4WD was swept away while travelling between Normanton and Kowanyama in the Gulf of Carpentaria in far north Queensland earlier this month.
The Gold Coast couple were well-acquainted with the area having spent the last six-and-a-half years working in remote Aboriginal communities.
So on December 5, the pair didn’t think twice about driving through swallow waters while crossing Clarke Creek.
‘It was at less than a foot of water – for us a very normal, innocuous crossing across a creek on the main road,’ Mr Fogg told The Project on Sunday.
However, that foot of water quickly rose over a metre of floodwater, trapping the couple and their two dogs, Charlie and Daisy inside.
Mr and Mrs Fogg’s submerged car began filling with water and they faced drowning before a passenger window popped open at the last moment allowing them to flee.
Mrs Fogg escaped the flooded car and with what he thought would be his last breath, her husband grabbed the dogs as the vehicle went under.
Tony and Lisa Fogg (pictured) were stranded in the Queensland outback for three days after floodwater swept their 4WD from a creek crossing
The couple and their two dogs (pictured) were trapped in their flooded 4WD but escaped with moments to spare
The group managed to swim to the bank where they were stranded for three days.
They survived by building a makeshift shelter from branches and leaves and drinking the muddy floodwater.
While their hunger and the swarms of mosquitoes attacking them would have been enough to send any bushman over the edge, the couple faced a much bigger threat.
‘After we scrambled to the shore and realised we had nothing, I got Lisa and the dogs to go up to a shaded area up the bank,’ Mr Fogg said.
‘We’re used to having crocs everywhere up here but when I went back down to grab some drinking water for us, I saw a crocodile looking straight at me.
‘From then on, I think he was keen on taking the dogs as a meal and we had to keep him from coming out of the water towards us for the entire night and most of the next day.’
When asked if at any point the couple believed they would die, Mrs Fogg said: ‘Pretty much the whole time.’
Mr Fogg added: ‘We knew someone would eventually figure out where we were between the two arrival and departure points.
‘We just basically had to keep our spirits up by making sure we had what we needed, which was water and shelter. We had nothing else.’
The Foggs were attacked by swarms of mosquitoes and came face to face with a ‘stalking’ crocodile
The couple survived by building makeshift shelter from branches and leaves and drinking muddy floodwaters
The Foggs not only lost their 4WD currently under eight feet of crocodile infested waters but also their belongings inside.
The couple are currently staying with friends in Cairns but plan return home to the Gold Coast.
A GoFundMe for the couple has already raised more than $4,000.
‘We desperately need help to get home to family, rebuild our shattered lives and return to our work,’ Mr Fogg wrote.
‘We only have the clothes we were wearing and our loyal red and blue heelers left.
‘Asking for help is very difficult for us as we are used to trying to help others. Any help would be greatly appreciated.’
LifeFlight pilot Michael Adair said the couple had all but given up of being found after two nights stranded in the outback.
‘These people had resigned themselves to dying and seeing the look on their faces when they saw us and realised they weren’t going to die – that’s the reason we do this,’ he said.
A LifeFlight crew scoured 500km of desert and eventually spotted an enormous SOS written in the dirt by the Foggs
The LifeFlight crew scoured 500km of desert and eventually spotted an enormous SOS written in the dirt six hours into the flight last Saturday and the couple waving frantically from below.
When the crew descended, the couple couldn’t believe they were being saved.
‘They said “thank God you’re here, we didn’t think anyone was coming”,’ Mr Adair said.
‘The wife told us she had been hearing voices in the bush from exposure and had convinced herself that nobody was coming to help them, so she was very emotional when we hugged her,’ he said.
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