Friend watched helpless as woman killed by crocodile on celebration holiday | World | News

What should have been a joyous occasion celebrating a momentous moment between two close friends ended in devastating tragedy instead.

Cindy Waldron and her lifelong friend Leeann Mitchell had set off on a trip to commemorate Leeann’s completion of her cancer treatment.

Thrilled to be there for her closest friend, Cindy had made the journey from New South Wales to Thornton Beach near Cairns in Queensland, Australia, to honour the remarkable milestone.

The pair, both originally from New Zealand, were paddling in the shallow waters of Australia’s Daintree National Park on May 29 2016, when Cindy was horrified to feel something graze her leg. Witnesses recalled hearing her cry out “a croc’s got me, a croc’s got me”.

Leeann fought desperately to rescue her friend and drag her to safety, but the enormous 16 foot crocodile proved far too powerful, and Cindy was dragged away, reports the Daily Star.

Leeann told 7 News Spotlight: “We just wanted to run around, and that’s exactly what we did, and in the process of doing that, we ended up on the waters’ edge.

“It was really dark. Cindy’s back was to the water and mine was to the beach and we were laughing and then Cindy cried out to me and she said: ‘It’s got me.'”.

“I thought that it was just that fright you get when you get in the water and something like seaweed brushes past you and so I put my arms out and she took my arms. “I said: ‘I’ve got you babe…it’s ok, I’ve got you. ‘ She was holding me and I was holding her.

“We were pulled…the force was incredible. And in that, I lost (grip) of one arm then we stopped and we’d travelled a big distance…I couldn’t feel the ground any longer. I realised there was something and I put my hand out and I felt the top of its head. Then I started trying to punch and trying to fight and I was screaming.

“Then all of a sudden, we were taken again with the same amount of force. I held on as much as I could. I was clawing onto her arm and I was trying to get the other arm up to try and grab her. I couldn’t, I couldn’t. And then, she was gone.”

Leeann was rushed to hospital where she received treatment for shock, alongside puncture wounds to her arm.

At the time, the 46-year-old’s devastated sister described her death as like “the worst nightmare. She said: “[It’s] probably the most heartbreaking, horrendous thing that’s ever happened to any of us really, in our family.

“They were just wading and then something like this happens out of the blue. It gives me nightmares to think about it.”

Just hours before the tragedy unfolded, Cindy had sent her father, Patrick, a message, updating him about the trip. He said: “She sent a message on Facebook two hours before that happened, to say ‘I’m on the beach, it’s a lovely place, I’m having a ball’.”

Local MP and former crocodile farmer Warren Entsch stated at the time that the location was well-known for crocodile-spotting tours and numerous warning signs were present. “This is a tragedy but it was avoidable,” he told reporters.

“If you go in swimming at 10 o’clock at night, you’re going to get consumed.”

Following the disappearance of Cindy, a photographer by profession, an extensive search was launched to recover her body. Several days later, an enormous crocodile was captured and destroyed in North Queensland, with human remains discovered inside its stomach — all that was left of Cindy.

In the wake of her disappearance, Cindy’s father and sister made the journey to the location where she had spent her final days, including an emotional visit to the beach where she was last seen to pay their respects.

Her father, who did not want the crocodile who had killed his daughter harmed, said: “We need to be here and cry on the beach.”

Crocodiles are a frequent presence in Australia’s tropical north and claim an average of two lives annually, according to AFP news agency.