A young girl desperately tried to rescue her best friend from drowning during a camping trip that went horribly wrong.
Ailise Brown drowned near the Bivouac Junction camp grounds, 30km east of Charters Towers, in North Queensland on July 8 last year.
The nine-year-old had begged her parents for days to let her go on the camping trip with her best friend and they eventually gave in – a decision they said haunts them.
Tragically, Ailise drowned in the Burdekin River only hours after she arrived.
‘I caved and let her go,’ Ailise’s father Michael Brown said.
According to the police investigation, Ailise and her friend had been allowed to swim alone on two previous times that day, The Courier Mail reported.
‘The first two swims occurred in shallow areas of the river and were uneventful,’ a coroner’s report said.
But the girl’s third swim ended in tragedy as Ailise’s friend bravely attempted to assist her ‘several’ times but in the struggle was pushed away.
Ailise Brown, 9, (pictured) drowned near the Bivouac Junction camp grounds, 30km east of Charters Towers in far North Queensland on July 8 last year
Ailise’s friend’s father raced from the campsite only about 50 metres away and dived in the river to try and find her (pictured, the Bivouac Junction campsite)
‘The girls swam to the deep area of the river, which they had not done on their earlier swims … Ailise struggled in the deepwater’, the police report said.
The friend swam back to the river bank and raised the alarm.
The police report states Ailise’s friend’s father raced from the campsite only about 50 metres away and dived in the river.
He could not find Ailise.
Her body was discovered on the river bed an hour later wedged in timber debris in a current, about 2.1 metres from the surface.
Ailise’s grieving mother Zoie Bragg praised Ailise’s friend who was only eight at the time for her actions.
She said her ‘courage and care’ was ‘admirable’.
One year on after the loss of Ailise, Ms Bragg said, ‘We feel disoriented and bewildered without our daughter.’
The best friend of Ailise Brown, 9, (pictured) desperately tried to save her after they went swimming during a camping trip to the Burdekin River in far North Queensland
She said they had been ‘disheartened’ by the Coroner’s Report and would like an inquiry into the death of their daughter.
‘We want justice for our little girl’s death,’ she said.
She said there appeared to be differences between the coroner’s report and the police report.
‘The coroner’s report mentions that (the classmate’s mother) requested (her husband) to look after the girls, while the police report does not,’ she said.
She added they struggled to find ‘closure’ and had repeatedly asked for the witness statements.
At the time of Ailise’s death, detectives from Charters Towers CIB conducted an investigation after attending the tragic scene.
‘Police investigated the circumstances surrounding Ailise’s death.’
‘There were no suspicious circumstances,’ the coroner’s report stated.
‘No charges were laid in respect of Ailise’s death.’
‘Having regard to all the evidence, I consider that to be the appropriate decision.
‘I am not satisfied that it is in the public interest to hold an inquest as I am of the view that drawing attention to the circumstances of this death is unlikely to prevent deaths in similar circumstances happening in the future.
‘There is also no uncertainty or conflict of evidence as to justify the use of the judicial forensic process and no suspicious circumstances that have not been resolved or resulted in criminal charges.’
