Ahmad Alfarhan, 16, drowned after falling into the water at Browns Beach in South Australia’s Innes National Park in March 2021
A 16-year-old boy’s heartbreaking final words to his mum before he died on a school trip have been revealed.
Ahmad Alfarhan, 16, drowned after falling into the water at Browns Beach in South Australia’s Innes National Park in March 2021.
Ahmad was was one of three boys who plunged into the water while visiting the park with Pinnacle College.
One of the three boys slipped off a moss-covered rock and fell into the ocean, while the other two either slipped too or jumped in to help save their classmate.
SA Employment Tribunal deputy president Judge Miles Crawley said it was unclear whether Ahmad slipped or leaped into the water to rescue his friend.
However, police at the time of the tragedy said he was a hero and had been trying to save his mate.
While his two friends made it back to shore, Ahmad’s body was swept away and was not recovered until the following day.
The tribunal head that Ahmad had kissed his mother goodbye before heading on the trip, saying: ‘I will see you in two days, don’t miss me.’
The accident happened while the students were on trip in the Innes National Park (pictured), in South Australia
His mum said in a victim impact statement: ‘Just remembering that day makes my heart break into pieces.
‘I never thought my son’s day would be before mine, that I would be the one saying goodbye to him for ever.
‘Talking about a piece of my heart, my son Ahmad, the light and smile of our house.
‘It was the worst day of my life, the day I’ve lost piece of my heart.’
Ahmad had just turned 16 and was ‘excited’ at the prospect of getting his driver’s licence, finishing school and going on to university.
The Pinnacle School students selected their own activities, camping and fishing, according to the published judgment, written by Judge Miles Crawley.
Rock fishing, considered one of Australia’s most dangerous sports, was listed as a possible activity.
But crucially no risk assessment was done on rock fishing ahead of the field trip. Neither was it included on the permission slip that parents signed.
When the students arrived in the national park, the first thing they did was grab their fishing rods and find a rock outcrop to begin.
‘Whilst there, one of the students lost his balance, slipped and fell into the sea,’ the judgement said.
‘Ahmad and another student either slipped or jumped into the sea in an effort to rescue him.’
While two of the boys who fell in were able to clamber out of the water, Ahmad could not.
His body was recovered the following day. The cause of death was determined to be drowning.
In a damning finding, Judge Crawley wrote that three students could easily have died that day.
Pinnacle School was fined $420,000 in the South Australian Employment Court on July 10 over the tragic incident
Pinnacle College was pleaded guilty to breaching health and safety laws and was fined $420,000.
The school made a ‘public and unreserved apology to Ahmad’s family’, Judge Crawley said.
A tribute to Ahmad has been built at the college and the school has hired a work, health and safety officer.
Ahmad’s death was a ‘tragic and unnecessary loss of life,’ SafeWork SA executive director Glenn Farrell said.
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